Margarete of Tyrol, the Ugly Duchess, is the central figure of this historical novel set in medieval Europe, a woman whom "God had deprived of feminine charm so that she might sink all the woman in the ruler." She was inherently good and of tremendous governing ability, but her reign was still one of persecution and terror. Her own ugliness and the contrasting beauty of her enemy, the courtesan Agnes von Flavon, conspired to turn each good deed into a tragedy. Her courtiers mocked her, her people distrusted her, her lovers sought her only for self-advancement.