In 1663, ‘Countess Maria von Wolway’ arrives in Restoration London, fleeing scandal in Cologne, determined to author a new life.

Maria lives on credit by flaunting jewels and staging correspondence. She draws the attention of an ambitious and charismatic man, John Carleton who, egged on by his greedy father, sets about courting her, faking his own fortune to impress her.

John and Mary enter a game of mutual deception that sparks genuine attraction. They dazzle Restoration society, and become media darlings. Before long their adopted personas have become real. They are London’s most fashionable couple, and society is there for the taking.

Can she maintain the deceit, or will her past catch up with her? Who decides what’s real and what’s fake anyway?

‘They said I am Mary Moders, alias Mary Steadman. They said that Maria von Wolway never existed, and so Mary Carleton cannot. They called me Fräulein, then they called me fake. They called me Countess, then cozener. Wife, then whore. And for all the things they called me, I stood trial for my life.’