Author Description

Love is a terrible thing that will make you suffer"So says Maria, a young Brazilian girl convinced from an early age that she will never find true love. A chance meeting in Rio takes her to Geneva, but the glittering life she hoped for was a fantasy. The reality--selling herself to survive--is a dehumanizing grind that pushes her further away from real love, towards a fascination with pure physical pleasure.But when her emotional barriers are tested by a handsome young painter, she must choose between the dark path she is on and risking everything to find her "inner light." Can she move beyond the meeting of minds or even souls--to a place where sex itself is sacred?A daring modern fable about the nature of love and sex. Review "A gripping exploration of the potentially sacred nature of sex within the context of love."-- "Booklist" About the Author Paulo Coelho is a New York Times bestselling author. His books have sold more than 100 million copies worldwide and have been translated into 68 languages and published in 150 countries. He is the recipient of numerous prestigious international awards and was inducted at the Brazilian Academy of Letters in 2002. In 2007 he was named a United Nations Messenger of Peace by the UN Secretary-General.