Salman Rushdie's dazzling novel The Enchantress of Florence takes inspiration from the city's gilded Renaissance past, while Mary McCarthy's masterful travelogue captures a bustling 20th century market city.

Messages of hope in the midst of pain - in such masterpieces as Adam Zagajewski's 'Try to Praise the Mutilated World', Wislawa Szymborska's 'The End and the Beginning' and Stevie Smith's 'Away, Melancholy' - make this a perfect gift for anyone on the road to healing.