In Gilded Age Manhattan, young widow Carole Rutherford has more money than she can ever spend. What she’s missed in life as the wife of a much older man is true passion…sex with a man young and strong enough to fulfill all her fantasies, leaving her limp with satisfaction. She fears this part of life has passed her by and she’ll never rid herself of the longings that plague her waking and dreaming hours.

Until she receives a letter from one Mr. Thomas Rose, a man who claims to have met her in the past and who writes the intriguing words:

“You are not easy to forget.”

A curious correspondence between the Carole and the mysterious Mr. Rose follows- one that soon has her visiting an odd shop in search of items no decent woman would own. After that, their letters become more and more intimate until Carole indulges in erotic acts and asks that Mr. Rose do the same and report on his experiences to her. Finally, he issues her the ultimate challenge. She is to come to him, but she must take four other lovers first.

The search for the illusive Mr. Rose takes Carole first to England, then to France, and finally to Austria as she makes a journey of sexual self-discovery. The man she finds when she finally arrives in Italy to confront Mr. Rose may be her ultimate lover or someone who’s totally forbidden.