The novel revolves around the forced sale of a painting in Nazi-occupied Vienna. Zoltan Nagy, the legitimate heir, is pressured by his daughter to go to court and recoup his parents' possessions. But Zoltan is in love with the present owner of the painting. What if winning the court case means losing her? And thereby hangs a tale with several twists and turns: secrets, assumptions and slippery identities are the ingredients the author has used to create a page-turner. Zoltan's daughter, Cereta, claims the painting was sold under duress. But is the work what it appears to be, or is it an expert forgery? And is Cereta the woman she claims to be? Or is her real name Laura? David, an art historian, who falls in love with her, cannot get at the truth. He is caught in a web of illusions and postmodernist doubts. Zoltan holds the key to the puzzle, but he is hard to read. The hardships he suffered in childhood have made him a man of a thousand disguises, a man hiding even from...

A Latino bar in Toronto, 1978. The men can't take their eyes off Lisa, but there is something about her that scares them off. She is a little too intense, a little too needy. Don, a realtor with a murky South American past, is unfazed. He listens patiently when Lisa tells him she is looking for her father, a wealthy man living in Argentina. Or so she says. Determined to find her roots, Lisa goes to Argentina. It's a journey born of longing for love and the desperate need for something solid to hold on to. Don offers to come along. He is on a mission of his own, looking for his run-away daughter, Asu, a Quechua girl he adopted in Argentina. Or so he says. Soon Lisa acquires a second escort: Santos, a man with connections to the spirit world. He does séances with Lisa because only the saints can help her. Or so he says. Is Santos a charlatan, or a shaman fighting the eternal battle of good against evil? Lisa's search for her father dead-ends. Instead she finds love with Jim, an...

Fifteen-year old Melanie has run away and is lost in the Californian desert. The search party is told she is mute. But is Melanie really mute, or is there an unspeakable secret in her life? Melanie's terrifying adventure is about the difficulty of putting thoughts into words, of being heard and understood and loved.Fifteen-year old Melanie has run away and is lost in the Californian desert. The search party is told she is mute. But is Melanie really mute, or is there an unspeakable secret in her life? Yes -- Melanie’s is terrified by the thought of allowing anyone into her mind, of putting thoughts into words. And so Melanie has decided not to talk. She prefers her perfect fantasy world to the problematic reality of a broken family and bullies at school. Lost in the desert, she discovers that she isn't the only one who has problems with words. A young man doesn’t understand “No”. An illegal immigrant has no voice in America. A gay man can’t explain himself. An old man is silenced by a stroke. Melanie doesn’t talk because she is afraid of being misunderstood, but love and longing finally make her speak out.

Liz is waiting for her big break in Hollywood, when a different offer comes her way. The wealthy Naomi Baum, a best-selling author, asks Liz to impersonate her on the Ted Hillman Show. The reclusive Naomi cannot bear public appearances but is desperate to make contact with another guest on the show: Miro Bogdan, the son she has abandoned as a baby. On the set, Liz gives a convincing performance as Naomi Baum and attracts the passions meant for the author. Miro, now a successful installation artist, harbours a deadly hatred for his mother and is plotting her murder. Ted Hillman, the host of the show, is fascinated with Naomi Baum and romances her stand-in. Liz gives a superb performance as Ted's love interest. But is it a performance, or is Liz beginning to live Naomi's life? {Guernica Editions}

An enchanting tale of the complex and fascinating life of Luisa Abrego of Seville, an emancipated woman who forges a new future for herself in colonial Mexico and gets caught in the Spanish Inquisition.Luisa Abrego, an enslaved woman in Seville, is impregnated by her master, then set free upon his death. With limited options for her future, Luisa agrees to marry a white man who wants to take her with him to Mexico, even though it means leaving her infant son behind in the care of nuns. The couple set off on a dangerous sea voyage and a perilous trek across unconquered territory, and when the settlers' caravan is attacked by Indigenous warriors, Luisa is forced to kill a man in self-defence. Years later, still wracked with guilt and convinced she must atone for her sin, Luisa confesses to having made a promise of marriage to another man long before, in Spain. By the laws of the church this makes her a bigamist, a criminal who must be tried by the fearsome...