Author(s): James Runcie

Fiction

From the author of The Discovery of Chocolate, a romantic historical quest set in Renaissance Florence and in China, surrounding the search for ultramarine. The Colour of Heaven is the fictional account of a young man's journey into what are now Afghanistan and China to discover lapis lazuli, the precious stone that, when turned into ultramarine, changed the history of painting - allowing artists to abandon gold as a background, and open up depth, landscape and perspective with the most beautiful shade of blue. Along his way, young hero, Paolo, suffers the torments of unfulfilled love before returning to his anxious family in Venice, where he also plays a part in the early development of lenses and spectacles.