Persephone is a c.44,000 word long novella about an academic in search of spiritual enlightenment who travels to the tiny island of Gili Meno. There she expects to meet her estranged sister, Eris, a bonds saleswoman. Instead she encounters an artist, a singer, an actress and a Yoga teacher called Jeff, in whom she immediately falls in love. Eris in the meanwhile is on Bali, where she worries about the consequences of a power play, which has misfired. A close friend has mysteriously disappeared and she fears that her boss is having her followed. She falls ill, which leads her to decide to have a child. She wants to leave something behind when she goes. When the sisters finally meet Eris upbraids Persephone. She tells her to be more optimistic in her thinking. She should stop complaining and take responsibility for her life. At a New Years Party Eris seduces Jeff. She wants to have his child.

Born in Vienna in 1967 Michael Buergermeister was brought up in London. He studied at the University of Edinburgh, the University of Vienna and Max Reinhardt Seminar. A writer, filmmaker and video artist he lives and works in Vienna, Austria.