In this retelling of "Sleeping Beauty," Alice seems destined to lead a princess's life--except for the frightening curse that dreaded Aunt Violette bestowed at her christening: She will die at the age of eighteen. Although she lives, something horrible happens on her eighteenth birthday. And as a result, Alice falls into a trancelike state and refuses to speak to anyone. Will she ever recover?

In a tale that mirrors "Snow White," eighteen-year-old Bella is leading a carefree bohemian lifestyle the summer before college, living and singing with a band in London and Paris. But over the course of a few weeks, she finds herself in danger more than once--and she can't help but suspect the two mysterious women who remind her of her jealous stepmother, Marjorie.