Ellen Fenwick, commonly known as Fenny or Elena, a burnt-out, single English teacher, jumps at the chance to become a governess for eight-year-old Juliet, whose family is recuperating for some months in a villa near Florence. She has been caring for her sick mother and has never travelled before, never experienced romance.

The premise of this book is intriguing: Ariel, a Jewish priestess and niece of King David, is sent on a mysterious quest by the angel Raziel. Not to a far-off country, but to a period a thousand years later, at the height of the Roman Empire, and shortly after the Crucifixion of the Jewish Messiah. The customs…

Fascinating for nostalgic classicists! Prudencia Prim wants to escape the boring, superficial business world and unexpectedly finds herself in a small village that seems to have got stuck in a previous century. We are introduced to her boss, ‘the Man in the Wing Chair’, his protegé nephews and nieces, who enjoy the Latin Masters, and…