Amazon.com description: Product Description: "...A sharply observed, intelligent novel -- finely written and without excess, it portrays a love story that is not only factually interesting, and emotionally satisfying, but also psychologically sound. - Elizabeth Strout, author of "Amy and Isabelle" Based on true historical figures, "The Queen of Cups" is the story of Juliette, the enigmatic wife of brilliant post Civil War philosopher, Charles Pierce, a man plagued by drug addiction and manic depression. From the gypsy camps of Russia, to glittering Paris, France and New York to her final exile to obscurity, Juliette's journey traces the life of an independent women who, betrayed by those she loves, never loses her belief in the possibility of redemption and in the power of love and loyalty.