First thoughts

Twice Born. Margaret MazzantiniOneworld Publications, £12.99; Kindel, $11.74.

IRISH-BORN writer Margaret Mazzantini has had considerable commercial and critical success in Europe, winning the Strega Prize for her third novel Don’t Move. Now her international breakout novel Twice Born is available in this part of the world.

Soon to be adapted into a feature film starring Penelope Cruz, this book is a moving, graphic account of one woman’s escape from some of the most heinous atrocities of modern times, clinging to her newborn child, and her struggle to overcome the loss of the greatest love of her life.