Montreal-born thriller writer Piers Le Gris is living a comfortable life of exile in Avignon, France, doted on by a beautiful older French woman, Nelly Reboul, his landlady. When seventeen-year-old Magali moves into the ancient mansion, her vitality, curiosity and tempestuous involvement with a young Arab poet draws all three into perilous intrigue.Magali’s presence jars open the door to a long-forgotten love affair in Nelly’s past, and forces Piers to do to battle with yearnings he has carefully smothered under a monkish routine. Drawn outside the claustrophobic confines of rue des Griffons, he finds himself dangerously entangled in the crosscurrents of desire, swept up by the lives of three compelling women. Marianne Ackerman explores the potent clash of spirit and flesh in Piers’ Desire, a tale of love and redemption.

A long-time Montrealer, Marianne Ackerman was born in Belleville, Ontario. She has an MA in drama from the University of Toronto and studied French at the Sorbonne. Her three published novels include the best-seller Jump. A frequently produced playwright, her new comedy Triplex Nervosa will be part of the Centaur Theatre’s 2014-15 season. She is publisher of the online arts magazine Rover, found at www.roverarts.com. The novella and stories in Holy Fools mark her first foray into short fiction.

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"Charming and romantic - an evocative read"

The Montreal Gazette