Book excerpt: Set in Venice and Asia Minor, Swimming In Stone is the sequel to That Which Bends. It tells the tale of Dusty Rhodes after she and her lover, Bodie Bloom, have won forty million euros in the Italian Lottery, only to see Bodie die shortly afterwards. Heartbroken but rich beyond her wildest imaginings, Dusty embarks on a voyage of hope with Bodie's estranged family in order to split Bodie's portion of the winnings in accordance with his last wishes. In the end Dusty and Bodie's family learn the truth that real fortune is measured not in the currency of exchange but in the currency of hope from which redemption may be wrung.