Eleven minutes

'Love is a terrible thing that will make you suffer...' So says Maria, a young Brazilian girl convinced from an early age that she will never find true love. A chance meeting in Rio takes her to Geneva, but the glittering life she hoped for is a fantasy. The reality - selling herself to survive - is a dehumanising grind that pushes her further away from real love, towards a fascination with pure physical pleasure. But when her emotional barriers are tested by a handsome young painter, she must choose between the dark path she is on and risking everything to find her 'inner light'. Can she move beyond the meeting of bodies to a meeting of minds or even souls - to a place where sex itself is sacred? This daring novel sees Paulo Coelho, the author of The Alchemist, at his very best - challenging our prejudices, opening our minds and keeping us utterly enthralled.