Published in 1996 Push written by Sapphire was recently made into a film financed by Oprah Winfrey released in 2010 and subsequently nominated for three oscars. Previously Sapphire was a poet and performed throughout the UK. Many poets become novelists but it's rare to occur in reverse.

I read it in one sitting. Listening to the voice and seeing through the eyes of Precious, the violated central character, is a test. I started at about ten pm and finished at 2am then slept for one hour. The alarm went off at 3am and in half an hour both le journaliste and I were in a taxi to Stansted Airport. By 6.30am we are bound for Sardinia.

Which is where I am now. I need this holiday. Anywhere hot with sea and sand would do. We could just as well have been going to Greece, home of the Greek lyric poet Sappho who lived on Lesbos and wrote poems which expressed affection and love for women. Sapphire's precious push…