Piazza Garibaldi by Marisa Fazio

In 1880s Marvellous Melbourne, at La Signora X’s bordello on Crossley Lane beside current day Pellegrini’s Espresso Bar, a young Sicilian woman, working under the name Sapphire, meets and falls in love with an Italian artist.

Meanwhile, Ricciotti, a labourer and family man whose station in life belies a powerful family heritage, is suffering from sleep deprivation due to the city’s extended heatwave. He discovers a soothing antidote.

Set over a single summer’s day and night, Marisa Fazio’s beguiling and lyrical novella, Piazza Garibaldi, will forever refresh the way you see Melbourne, Italy and colonialism