Alessandra Giliani has learned that "half the trick of being a smart girl is learning how to hide it," for fear of being branded a witch.Set in 14th-century Italy, A Golden Web follows her as she ditches the trappings of her wealthy family and retires to a convent to avoid marriage at age 15.

Alessandra has a love of science and finds herself "excited by things that no girl has the right or need to know." With the help of her older brother, she leaves the convent disguised as Sandro, a young medical student, and engages in the fledgling study of anatomy in Bologna.Sandro is quickly seen as a brilliant student, and she becomes a prosector.After overcoming her initial squeamishness, she devotes herself to dissection and the study of the human body, not only with the close observance of corpses, but also by reading the few available books and venturing into the midwives' district to learn from the "women healers" as well.

Sandro's secret is threatened by a jealous student, and again when a study partner stirs romantic feelings, and the ending is not one of happily ever after.At times focused on historical detail, at others resembling a toned-down bodice ripper, this novel is a quick read for those who like romantic fiction.