Passionate, erotic and haunting, this is a brilliant novel by one of Britain's most important novelists.
When conservationist Simon Raikes goes to Venice to restore a statue of the Madonna, he is unprepared for the effect this stone virgin's strange, seductive beauty and mysterious past will have on his life.
As he gradually peels away the layers of dirt from the statue, he becomes increasingly haunted by its potent history of sexual passion, greed, treachery and murder. Modelled on a beautiful prostitute in fifteenth-century Venice, its sculptor paid with his life when he fell in love with her. Then, in the eighteenth-century, a lecherous nobleman consummated an illicit affair beneath the statue, recalled in salacious detail in his memoirs. As Simon becomes caught in the heady sexual spell of the Madonna's story, he is also increasingly attracted to an enigmatic Italian woman, Chiara, the wife of a sculptor, and realises that the stone virgin's violent and erotic past is once again invading the present.
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About the Author:
BARRY UNSWORTH was born in 1930 in Durham, and now lives in Italy. He is the author of many novels, including Pascali's Island, which was shortlisted for the 1980 Booker Prize; Stone Virgin (1985); Sacred Hunger, which was joint winner of the 1992 Booker Prize; Morality Play, which was shortlisted for the 1995 Booker Prize; Losing Nelson (1999); The Songs of the Kings (2002); The Ruby in Her Navel (2006); Land of Marvels (2009) and The Quality of Mercy.
Review:
"A marvellous novel, beautifully written and compelling to read" * Daily Telegraph * "A tour de force of informed, atmospheric writing ... an impressive, thought-provoking book" * Sunday Times * "An enthralling exploration of time and of Venice and of the creative mind" * New Yorker * "A remarkable novel ... a superlative evocation of a Venice of murky calli ... a master stylist" * Spectator *
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherWindmill
- Publication date2012
- ISBN 10 0099558548
- ISBN 13 9780099558545
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages320
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Rating