Publishers Enterprises Group (PEG) Ltd of San Gwann have recently published the book Il-Qattiela ta’ Bintha, Francesco Mastriani’s popular novel translated into Maltese by Charles Abela Mizzi.

It was a custom and tradition that the girls of the orphanage of Our Lady of the Annunciation in Naples gathered in the building’s courtyard on the day of the feast of the Annunciation to be chosen as brides by any man who might be interested in marriage. The 15-year-old orphan Coletta Esposito was ‘acquired’ by a debauched 60-year-old bachelor who had wasted his life in the pursuit of pleasure and vice.

But his marriage to Coletta was to be shortlived. After leaving her husband, Coletta cohabits with the young Cipriano and bears a child… an innocent creature who dies at the hands of its own mother the day Cipriano marries another woman.

Il-Qattiela ta’ Bintha can be purchased from all leading bookshops. For more information telephone PEG on 21440083 or 21448539 or visit the PEG Publications Homepage: http://www.peg.com.mt.