In Montefiore, Italy, in the early 16th century, a nobleman named Don Vicente de Nevada lives on a small estate with his seven-year-old daughter, Bianca, and a small staff, two of whom are Primavera, an earthy cook and a friar Fra Ludovico.

The eponymous mirror was fashioned by dwarves and left in the pond to temper, where, at the beginning of the novel, it is found by de Nevada.

Life is good for the family until the day the duchess Lucrezia Borgia and her brother, Cesare, decadent children of a pope, come to visit.

When she eventually succeeds, Bianca is placed in a coffin, with the now-liberated mirror allowing passers-by to view her beauty.

While Kirkus Reviews called it "Every bit as good as Wicked,"[1] The AV Club said, "Too many of the well-drawn principals turn out to be window dressing, too many of the plotlines dribble out into emptiness, and too many of his elaborations amount to misdirection.