30 MAY 1992, page 25

Unable To Change Its Sun Spots

John Spurling THE SILENT DUCHESS by Dacia Maraini Peter Owen, f14.99, pp. 235 T he heroine of The Silent Duchess is the deaf and dumb daughter of an 18th-century Sicilian duke.......

Books

The relics of learning James Buchan ENGLISH MUSIC by Peter Ackroyd Hamish Hamilton, £14.99, pp. 400 T his novel starts well. A boy stands in the glare of gaslight on the wooden......