THERE ARE FIRES OF PASSION, AND FIRES FED BY GREED...MOST TERRIBLE OF ALL ARE THE FIRES SET ABLAZE BY CRUELTY AND INJUSTICE... In a white-walled palace shimmering beneath the hot sun of southern Spain, a darkened room held unspeakable anguish. The fabulous wealth of his family's banking empire had made Juan Luis Mendoza all powerful, but his insane jealousy drove him to the edge of madness. Lila Curran faced his cruelty and swore that she and her son, Michael, would survive. After thirteen years of desperate struggle the arrival of a mysterious letter saved Lila's sanity, for in it lay a shocking secret...the weapon she would use to force Juan Luis to set her free. Now, in the elegant Dublin mansion where Lila reigns as the Black Widow, aristocrats dance in the ballroom while revolutionaries are received behind closed doors. No one guesses the lust for vengeance that lives in Lila's heart. No one knows of her secret worldwide alliances, her mysterious lover, or the Byzantine scheme she and her son have nurtured for years. No one realizes that, if it succeeds...the House of Mendoza will fall. From rebellion plotted beneath cold starry skies to the dark magic that stalks the sultry Caribbean night - the Black Widow's web, baited with lust and passion, is carefully being spun...

Saved from the Spanish Inquisition by gypsies, Spanish Jew Sofia Mendoza grows up in the Seville slum to become a popular flamenco artist, and a later liason with Robert Mendoza leads her to discover her true heritage

Studying in England in 1970, Lili Cramer falls for Andy Mendoza, member of a powerful banking family. An aspiring author, Andy is pursuing an unsolved mystery from the 1930s in which he suspects his family was involved: Amanda Kane, native of the same Massachusetts town as Lili, vanished the day her husband, an English baron, was murdered. After a whirlwind affair Andy drops Lili without explanation. Years later in New York Lili and her friend Peter Fowler, with the help of Spanish supporter Loyola Perez, plan to take over a publisher. When the publisher finds a white knight, Lili and Peter believe that Loy's bankers, the Mendoza Group, are providing backing. Thus when Andy surfaces in New York, Lili proceeds cautiously. While Byrne's tale is entertaining, it is too slight to bear the weight of the pretentious mystery of the Mendoza family's lost Jewish heritage.