The Floating Book

Description

* A stunning historical novel in the bestselling tradition of Isabel Allende and Umberto Eco
* An extraordinary recreation of the human drama behind one of the defining moments of western culture



Book Information:
Venice, 1468. Sosia Simeon, a free spirit with a strange predilection for books and Venetians is making her particular mark on the fabled city. On the other side of the Grand Canal, Wendelin von Speyer from Germany is setting up the first printing press in Venice and looking for the book that will make his fortune.

A love triangle develops between Sosia, Wendelin's young editor, and the seductive
scribe Felice Feliciano, a man who loves the crevices of the alphabet the way other men love the crevices of women. Before long, a dark magic begins to haunt Sosia and the printers: an obsessive nun and a book-hating priest conspire against them, and soon their fate hangs in the balance. For binding them all together is the poet Catullus - whose desperate and unrequited love inspired the most tender erotic poems of antiquity.

Reviews

'A stunnning evocation of late 15thC. Venice' INDEPENDENT (50 best books for the summer) *'An enthralling tale of love, obsession & religious fervour. Lovric's narrative, featuring many historical figures, convincingly recreates a fascinating time in history' Big Issue *'A lusty, atmospheric book, skilfully constructed' HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW *'Lush, exotic & dripping with sensuality ... A fantastic novel of epic proportions' G.B.G.

Author description

Born in Australia of Serbian-Irish ancestry, Michelle Lovric is the author of CARNEVALE and a number of internationally bestselling anthologies, including LOVE LETTERS: AN ANTHOLOGY OF PASSION. She lives in London and Venice.