★Rights sold in Germany, UK, France and Bulgaria.
★An unforgettable novel about the power of food and the force of the past. A story that transports the reader to an enchanting, secret island where anything can happen.

The earliest smell Elettra can remember is that of freshly baked bread and spiced biscuits. In the bakery where she grew up, Elettra learnt from her mother that food is the easiest way to people’s hearts. But now that her mother cannot run the shop any longer and has left everything into her daughter’s hands, Elettra’s cakes seem to have lost their power. And all the lingering questions between mother and daughter remain unanswered. Questions about a past life which Elettra’s mother has kept secret from everyone, even from her own daughter.

Lost and confused, Elettra feels she has no choice but to shed light on this silence. Yet to help her she has nothing but a thin necklace engraved with the name of a mysterious island and a recipe: aniseed bread, which her mother used to bake to overcome sadness and bring back joy. This bread gives Elettra the strength to set out on her journey to the Titano island, a remote island of the Mediterranean whose history is lost in a legendary past. Here, amidst the routine of ordinary life, only processions of black-clad women can be seen walking down dusty paths that lead to the sea. Here every corner harbours a secret, a half-spoken truth. Here resonates the echo of forbidden loves and long-lost friendships. But Elettra is not afraid to search and to know. She needs to find out why the wind on the island carries the same aromas of her mother’s cooking, the same magic of her mother’s hugs which gave her protection when she was just a little girl. She needs to discover the connection between this island and the most important woman in her life. Only so can Elettra find herself. Only so can she restore her faith in cooking as an act of love and find that there really is a recipe to never forget how to dream.

Valentina Cebeni is one of Germany’s best-loved Italian authors. The Collector of Wonders is a precious book. It tells the story of a resolute and independent woman who learns to look beyond her surroundings to discover that treasures are often hidden in small things.