 Sandro is a Roman adrift in Venice during Carnival. As he enters midlife, he argues with his wife of sixteen years more often than they laugh or make love. She s had enough of his moods, so they separate so he can sort out his mind. His first night away, he sees a photograph of a nude; the image resembles his wife. He searches for the model, whose name is Riri. He finds her, and she looks exactly like his wife, except that Riri is a gaily attired prostitute and Laura is a self-contained antiquarian bookseller. Are they two women, are they one, and in the masquarade of Carnival, what is real?