The Scent of Your Breath

Melissa, the Sicilian girl from "One Hundred Strokes" who was desperate for love and willing to do anything to find it, is now a successful writer in Rome, living with her new lover, Thomas.

He is sensual, patient, and comforting - the antithesis of all the men who came before.

But as soon as she meets Viola, a young woman from Thomas' past, sexual passion and insecurity grow in tandem, and Melissa is consumed with jealousy.

Written as a confessional letter to her mother, the story is one of dark obsession, violent lust, and soul-destroying talent, teeming with the ghosts and dragonfly-women Melissa is convinced are trying to steal her man and bring about her ruin.

Driven by Melissa's singular voice - that unique and compelling combination of impetuous naivete and poetic sophistication that has mesmerised readers around the world - "The Scent of Your Breath" blurs the boundaries between reality and fantasy and delves deep into the disturbing yet strangely familiar mind of a teenage girl terrorized by love.