Frances Wilson

Simply divine

Ian Thomson describes Dante’s Divine Comedy as a 12-step recovery programme for those who have lost their way. He himself proves an excellent companion

The Divine Comedy is a book that everyone ought to read,’ according to Jorge Luis Borges, and every Italian has read it. Dante’s midlife crisis in the dark wood, his journey down the circles of hell, up the ledges of Purgatory and into the arms of Beatrice is mother’s milk to Italian schoolchildren.

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