"Do you think you could set out to search for this manuscript?" asked the old lady. Joseph Wassermann, a dreamy recluse and author of trivial novels set around Lake Garda, cannot bring himself to refuse the widow's request. Hoping to learn something about the significance of an Indian palm manuscript, he soon finds himself in the northern Italian city of Mantova. However, the deeper he dives into the labyrinth of the old town, the more he realizes that all his research is going in circles. It quickly becomes clear: the book he is searching for is a rare, nearly unsolvable puzzle! If it weren't for a bookseller, a fortune teller, a court jester, and an attractive courtesan who guide him on the path to his own center. And this strange street performer who appears out of nowhere at every corner, always smiling quietly and indeed going in circles.