ZO by Leanne Owens

It could be the greatest love story of the millennium, except for one small problem: Ally was born in Australia in1959 while Zo lived in the 1400s in Italy.

In the 1960s and 1970s, young Ally Lamore saved four of her classmates from imploding lives and lifted them up into greatness. In their twenties, they tried to return the favour by saving her from mental illness, and she ran from them and hid, keeping her secrets to herself. In 2019, when they find her, they drop everything and rush to her side from across the globe. This time, they are desperate to keep her in their lives. They will even believe her stories of Zo because, sometimes, being a friend, means you believe the impossible... and, sometimes, the impossible happens.

Elli and Zo meet in 1464 – a girl lost to history, and a boy who becomes the most powerful figure in Italy, Lorenzo de Medici. She is there behind all the great events of his life - his inspiration and his solace. Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Botticelli, and Machiavelli call her their friend. Savonarola is set on his course of destruction because he desires her. Renaissance Florence, its events, and its people, come to life in the love story of Elli and Zo – a love that will last for more than five hundred years.

An uplifting and inspiring story of friendship, romance, suspense, and mystery, revealing the dark secrets that lie behind the brightness of beautiful lives, and the love that brings light to everything. ‘Zo’ is a book to curl up with on the weekend, or escape into after work – a beautifully crafted, stand-alone novel that will make you laugh, cry, and look at life with wonder.

(By the author of ‘Muted’ – a sensational novel of intrigue, suspense, friendship, and love. Leanne Owens is an English/History teacher with a Master’s in Education, and has written several books, including the children’s Outback Riders series.)