Inspired by the great frescoes of St Francis of Assisi, the highly-praised author of 'Italian Fever' has written a new and wholly original biography.
Composed in a series of vividly realised "panels", 'Salvation' begins with the dying Francesco - and moves back in time toward his mystical conversion. The old friar, exhausted by illness and division among his brotherhood, gives way to the zealous missionary who joins the Fifth Crusade.
Later, we see the unwashed and innocent revolutionary, unafraid to lecture a pope on Christ's message, and finally the frivolous young Francesco on the deserted road where his encounter with a leper leads him to an ecstatic embrace of God. Most important, it is a unique, immediate portrait of the great mystic, whose legend has resonated through the centuries in both religious and secular realms.
