Sappho's Leap is a journey back 2,600 years to inhabit the mind of the greatest love poet the world has ever known. At the age of fourteen, Sappho is seduced by the beautiful poet Alcacus, plots with him to overthrow the dictator of the island, and is caught and married off to a repellent older man in hopes that matrimony will keep her out of trouble. Instead, this unhappy union starts her off on a series of amorous adventures, taking her from Delphi to Egypt, and even to the Land of the Amazons and the shadowy realm of Hades.

Throughout her travels, Sappho gives birth to and loses a daughter, becomes the most famous singer of the ancient world, and learns to understand the forces that have shaped her life.