Louis de Bernieres is the best-selling author of Captain Corelli's Mandolin, which won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, Best Book in 1995. His most recent novel is Birds Without Wings.
A triumph - a finely executed little masterpiece * Daily Mirror * It's a glory...intensely moving...It's a wise and moving novel, perfectly accomplished. It shows that no life is ordinary. It shines fresh light on the nature of love * Guardian * Sublimely funny and moving...by the time I'd finished this sleek little novel I'd laughed out loud numerous times and, eventually, cried. That's as true a testimony to a book's loveliness as I know * Independent * A striking and wise novel, deceptively slight yet emotionally profound * New Statesman * This is a silk stocking of a novel: fragile, light - and yet possessed of surprising tensile strength...making it look this simple is a real art * The Times *