After three abruptly ended marriages, Aurora is ready to lose her dreary black trouser-suit and find refuge in the Tuscan sun. It's her new eau de nil frock that she sheds, however, when she finds herself in the hotel room of the disconcertingly magnetic Father Michael. He rides a Harley Davidson, and he may not be a priest at all. One thing is certain, Aurora's radical friend Leonora is now the head of the local convent, even if Aurora can't imagine what an abbess might want with her gun.

Michele Roberts is the author of 11 novels, including Daughters of the House, which was short-listed for the Booker Prize and winner of the WHSmith Literary Award. She lives in England.