Gay Marks

Gay Marks has always been fascinated by what makes the Italians and the English tick, and this has been a recurring theme in her writing. Her first non-fiction book Le Mie Isole (My Islands) written in Italian, was a not-too-serious look at how the two cultures interpret the world in different ways, while her second, Harold Acton Was My Hero takes this a stage further in trying to find some of the more curious answers.

A Londoner, Gay Marks has lived for many years in Palermo, a city of endless inspiration to writers. Her latest book, Palermo Story written under the name Gabrielle Marks, is a novel in which the theft of a wallet on a city bus leads Nick an English University lecturer, to Lea, a beautiful photographer with whom he falls instantly in love. Death threats to a nearby shop owner refusing to pay protection money, and the realization of Dante - Lea’s hot-tempered and sensual partner – that he is losing the woman he loves, build up the tension to its inevitable end.

In total contrast, the novel, Love and the Cello Maker recently completed by Marks, deals with the unique relationship between animals and humans. Narrated by Alabama, the fiercely independent stray found on a Palermo street and rescued by Giulia, a professional cellist, it reveals the cat’s extraordinary musical awareness. A thought-provoking book which may perhaps raise some uncomfortable questions about our treatment and understanding of domestic animals.

e mail: gay.marks@yahoo.co.uk