The Baron in the Trees

From the age of twelve, the Baron Cosimo Piovasco di Rondo makes his home among ash, elm, magnolia, plum and almond, living up in the trees. He walks along paths made from the twisted branches of olive, makes his bed in a holly oak, and bathes in a fountain constructed from poplar bark. An aerial library holds the books with which he educates himself in philosophy and mathematics. Suspended among the leaves, the Baron adventures with bandits and pirates, conducts a passionate love affair, and watches the Age of Enlightenment pass by beneath him.

Endorsements

'I can think of no finer writer to have beside me while Italy explodes, Britain burns, while the world ends' — Salman Rushdie

'The most magically ingenious of the contemporary Italian novelists' — The Times