Counting The Stars

Description: In the sticky summer heat unruly desires stir the blood ...For Catullus, the brilliantly witty and outrageous young poet, and Clodia, his older, married lover, a borrowed villa in Rome is a secret, illicit meeting-place. When they are apart, Catullus burns with desire for 'his girl', while Clodia goes her own way among his rivals. Other passions simmer in the heat: the streets threaten to erupt in political violence, hearts sour and contemplate murder, and love and hate are dangerously entwined. Catullus' jealousy grows as toxic as hellebore or hemlock. Poisoning is a Roman art, and there is poison everywhere ... Review: An assured, addictive and captivating tale of forbidden love. Dunmore possesses a gift for turning every genre she touches into gold Daily Telegraph A highly charged, richly evocative story of illicit passion ... conjures up the corruption and rampant consumerism of ancient Rome Daily Mail Powerful, memorable, compelling Sunday Times Dunmore brings to life the people, the smells and the streets of a city where greed is good and lust for sex as well as power is what drives men and women on ... richly evocative, sparkling Tribune Marvellous, powerful, convincing, captivating, compelling, mesmerising, seductive, inventive ... Dunmore at her most innovative and daring Time Out Striking, memorable Sunday Times A moving, passionate tale of two people in love Independent Thanks to generous helpings of corruption, promiscuity, hedonism and celebrity, the Roman Empire feels startlingly modern Psychologies Elegant, transfixing character-driven historical fiction Financial Times Her narrative moves in sensuous leisure...the landscape is exquisitely realised Literary Review Dunmore vividly recreates ancient Roman society...with intricate detail and tormented love, it's a must-read Elle Author Biography: Helen Dunmore has published ten novels with Penguin: Zennor in Darkness, which won the McKitterick Prize; Burning Bright; A Spell of Winter, which won the Orange Prize; Talking to the Dead; Your Blue-Eyed Boy; With Your Crooked Heart; The Siege, which was shortlisted for the 2001 Whitbread Novel of the Year Award and for the Orange Prize for Fiction 2002; Mourning Ruby; House of Orphans and Counting the Stars. She is also a poet, children's novelist and short-story writer.