Book of Mrs. Noah

A woman visiting Venice fantasises that she is Mrs Noah. Her Ark, a vast, form shifting construct of the imagination, is a water-bourne library moored somewhere in the Lagoon, repository not only of creat-ures but of the entire knowledge of the human race. Travelling with her on her journey of self-exploration and survival are five story-telling Sybils, each representing a different aspect of woman's experience down the centuries. Listening to these dark, funny, beautifully narrated tales - often of oppression - is the Gaffer, a rakish old man with much to learn.