The stranger begins to tell Akbar the tale, going back to the boyhood of three friends in Florence, Il Machia, Ago Vespucci and Nino Argalia, the last of whom became an adventurer in the East.

[4] The book relates a succession of interweaving stories by a variety of storytellers, travellers and adventurers and of course touches on the histories and cultures of the various settings including the Mughal and Ottoman Empires, the earlier Mongols, and Renaissance Florence.

There is a strong theme of sex and eroticism, much of it surrounding the Enchantress of the book's title, who was inspired by the Renaissance poem Orlando Furioso.

The magazine's critical summary reads: "The Washington Post sums up general sentiment: If one can overlook its flaws, The Enchantress of Florence is "so delightful an homage to Renaissance magic and wonder".

[8] Writing in The Guardian, Ursula K. Le Guin called it a "brilliant, fascinating, generous novel", and praised its "glamour and power, its humour and shock, its verve, its glory".