Ania Malina

The horrors of war and the complexities of obsessive love color this short but ornate first novel. James Lovecraft, a wounded British soldier, meets Ania, a teenaged, Polish-French refugee, while both are recuperating in a French hospital in 1945. Entranced, and believing her an orphan, James seduces her, and the two begin a tour of the Mediterranean that is increasingly threatened by Ania's bizarre behavior. By switching his narrators, Osborne eventually reveals the tormented soul within the enigmatic Ania, seen by others as a Lolita-like temptress. Though flawed by overwriting and too-precious imagery, the work shows a promising subtlety and talent.