The Iguana     by Anna-Maria Ortese, Translated by Henry Martin Original title: L’iguana Original language: Italian Published by McPherson & Company Pub. Date: 1988 Format: Paperback, 208 pages Dimensions: (in inches): 0.66 x 8.39 x 5.35 ISBN: 0914232959 List Price: $9.00, £6.50 buy now directly from the publisher Free Shipping Worldwide Published by Minerva Pub. Date: 1987 Pub. Place: UK Format: Paperback, 197 pages Not available for ordering

Click on image to see enlargement

A Count falls for a charming young reptile who lives on an island lost off the Portuguese coast. In its writing and conception the book belongs to the fabulous-modernist mode of Italian literature familiar to readers of Calvino. One discovers here an original way of talking about the human soul, for which the iguana can be read as a metaphor, perhaps. An intriguing book.

‘The horizon showed only a flush of amber light, yet there was still a leeward glimpse of the low, naked coast of Portugal until, shadow-like, it finally disappeared.’ p11