The Scent of Your Breath [Paperback]

"'Melissa's candour regarding her extreme experience offers an apprehension, however fleeting, of modern adolescence' The Times 'A frank and vivid account of sexual rites of passage' The Telegraph 'The sex diary of Melissa P shows she is experienced - and wise - beyond her years... a combination of candour and intelligence, and a compelling mix of aggression and passivity' GQ 'A literary sensation' Sunday Times 'A warm and erotic book, packed with intense and shocking sexual experiences' Diva"

'Gossamer writing with a tarantula's bite'

`the hottest literary trend around'

Melissa, the Sicilian girl from One Hundred Strokes who was desperate for love and willing to do anything to find it, is now a successful writer in Rome, living with her new lover, Thomas. He is sensual, patient, and comforting ? the antithesis of all the men who came before. But as soon as she meets Viola, a young woman from Thomas' past, sexual passion and insecurity grow in tandem, and Melissa is consumed with jealousy. Written as a confessional letter to her mother, the story is one of dark obsession, violent lust, and soul-destroying talent, teeming with the ghosts and dragonfly-women Melissa is convinced are trying to steal her man and bring about her ruin. Driven by Melissa?s singular voice ? that unique and compelling combination of impetuous na?vete and poetic sophistication that has mesmerised readers around the world ? The Scent of Your Breath blurs the boundaries between reality and fantasy and delves deep into the disturbing yet strangely familiar mind of a teenage girl terrorized by love. 'An uninhibited and compelling reflection on obsessive love' Elle 'Gossamer writing with a tarantula's bite.' The Sunday Express 'What makes her tale so compelling is the way she infuses each sentence with sensual, descriptive language somewhere between Ana?s Nin and Jeanette Winterson' Diva ?A second self-assured sexual coming-of-age tale by the young Sicilian author...An experimental work that relentlessly tests states of reality versus fantasy.? Kirkus Reviews

Melissa Panarello was born in Sicily in 1985 and now lives in Rome. Her teenage diaries formed the basis of One Hundred Strokes of the Brush Before Bed, the book that scandalised Europe.