Patrician Press: 3 books

An historical novel, set in Northern Italy at the turn of the last century, relates the adventures of an intelligent and vivacious peasant girl, Zaira, whose lust for life and keen desire for self-improvement launch her on a journey into the twentieth-century.

The novel recounts the time Clarisse spent in France, her move back to England after her husband's death and subsequent voyage to New Zealand after her breast cancer diagnosis. Along the way, she crosses paths with some challenging people. Her reactions to death and illness and her refusal of conventional treatment are explored but the outcome is often unpredictable.

The beauty of OULIPO (Ouvroir de Littérature Potentielle) with the use of a mathematical formula is evocatively expressed in this imaginative, erudite and clever poem. Reading the cantos and interpreting the structure of the poem in an e-book format make it an entertainingly visual and interesting experience.