Set in Italy of the 1960’s Jenny flees to Naples to leave her trouble behind but finds that life's little dramas can affect you wherever you are in the world. Friendships, romance, discovery. A short novel but packed full of emotion and insightfulness.
The scene is Naples, against whose ancient and fantastic background the modern action takes place. Among the protagonists is Jenny, young and pretty, who has come to Naples in flight from a sombre drama, unaware that a larger drama waits her there. She has an introduction to a Neapolitan woman, and one day she idly follows it up. This is her leap through the looking glass.
'Miss Hazzard's mind is a revolving light that picks a scene, holds it in utmost clarity for a moment against the surrounding darkness and moves on' NEW YORK TIMES
Mellow and elegaic, this bittersweet novel is suffused with a grace that captivates, its tone wistful as the narrator remembers the time that she spent in Italy many years earlier. Jenny, fleeing from a difficult family situation in Africa, was unaware that a greater emotional drama that lay ahead of her there. Set against the spectacular backdrop of contemporary Naples, the city becomes a pivotal character in the story, dominating the human drama. Charting the nuances of love, this is a novel that intertwines the personal and topographical to memorable effect. (Kirkus UK)
Author
About Shirley Hazzard
Shirley Hazzard is author of the awardwinning novel The Great Fire (Virago 2004). Her other novels include Greene on Capri, a memoir of Graham Greene, and five works of fiction, including The Transit of Venus, winner of the 1981 National Book Critics' Award.
