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Christine Balint Author Photo C_071.jpg
9781922964342.jpg
Christine Balint Author Photo C_071.jpg

A Single Witness

A$34.95

Christine Balint

It is 1756. In the mountain village of Piovene, outside Venice, 13-year-old Anna Maria Bonon lives a spartan life with her grandmother and father. In the daytime, she cards wool at the local mill. At home, she raises silkworms. She is afraid of her violent father, Giacomo, who scrambles for work and drinks his sorrows away at the osteria. When Giacomo is arrested for a public brawl, Anna Maria and her grandmother walk miles to the court in Vicenza. 

But instead of trying to free him, Anna Maria accuses her father of unspeakable crimes that he committed against her. The Council of Ten from Venice arrive to investigate. She is the single witness.

Challenged by her grandmother and the local priest to say she lied, Anna Maria is torn between loyalty to her elders and telling the truth. 

Set against the evocative background of the fecund Veneto region, A Single Witness provides an insight into 18th century village life in Italy where being a young girl with an abusive father is a tough reality that would have crushed many others. 

Drawing closely on original trial documents from Venetian archives, prize-winning novelist Christine Balint brings to light the true story of Anna Maria Bonon and her brave pursuit of justice at a time when a man’s authority over his family was unquestioned.

MAY 2026 |  ISBN 9781922964342 | Paperback | 152 mm x 228mm | 320 pages

Christine Balint

It is 1756. In the mountain village of Piovene, outside Venice, 13-year-old Anna Maria Bonon lives a spartan life with her grandmother and father. In the daytime, she cards wool at the local mill. At home, she raises silkworms. She is afraid of her violent father, Giacomo, who scrambles for work and drinks his sorrows away at the osteria. When Giacomo is arrested for a public brawl, Anna Maria and her grandmother walk miles to the court in Vicenza. 

But instead of trying to free him, Anna Maria accuses her father of unspeakable crimes that he committed against her. The Council of Ten from Venice arrive to investigate. She is the single witness.

Challenged by her grandmother and the local priest to say she lied, Anna Maria is torn between loyalty to her elders and telling the truth. 

Set against the evocative background of the fecund Veneto region, A Single Witness provides an insight into 18th century village life in Italy where being a young girl with an abusive father is a tough reality that would have crushed many others. 

Drawing closely on original trial documents from Venetian archives, prize-winning novelist Christine Balint brings to light the true story of Anna Maria Bonon and her brave pursuit of justice at a time when a man’s authority over his family was unquestioned.

MAY 2026 |  ISBN 9781922964342 | Paperback | 152 mm x 228mm | 320 pages

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Upcoming Events

Upcoming Events
A Single Witness Book Launch Readings Hawthorn
May 1
A Single Witness Book Launch Readings Hawthorn

Readings Hawthorn celebrates the launch of A Single Witness by Christine Balint. The book will be launched by acclaimed Australian author Toni Jordan. Free event, bookings essential

A Single Witness Book Launch Stories by the Sea Bookshop
May 8
A Single Witness Book Launch Stories by the Sea Bookshop

Vikki Petraitis launches Christine Balint’s new book, A Single Witness, at Stories by the Sea Bookshop.

A Single Witness Special Event with Professor Katy Barnett
May 22
A Single Witness Special Event with Professor Katy Barnett

Join us for a special event with Professor Katy Barnett about the the historical legal and political context around Anna Maria Bonon’s court case and the story behind the successful conviction of her father for sex abuse in 1757. This event is free but registration is required. Event sponsored by Crittenden Estate.

Words After Dark with Christine Balint
Jun 17
Words After Dark with Christine Balint

Antipodes Bookshop + Gallery invites you to a Words After Dark evening with prize-winning author Christine Balint.

Take a Look Inside the Book
Take a Look Inside the Book

EBOOK WILL BE AVAILABLE ON PUBLICATION DATE

Reviews

Christine Balint’s gripping historical fiction, A Single Witness, is based on the true story of Anna Maria Bonon, a girl from a poor 1750s Italian rural village who works in a mill by day and farms silkworms at night… Balint superbly recreates the social mores, prejudices and living conditions of village life, giving readers insight into the everyday battles Anna Maria faces. While the narrative is simple on the surface, its themes are complex… For readers of Elif Shafak’s 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World.

Read the full review here.
— Books+Publishing

Endorsements

The evocative story of a vulnerable girl who refused to be silenced. Intimate, compelling, and atmospheric.
— Carrie Tiffany, Stella-Prize winning author of Mateship with Birds


A Single Witness is a beautifully crafted yet unflinching probe into an actual crime and its devastating aftermath in 1750s rural Italy. Told deftly and evocatively by a novelist of great skill, it is a deeply satisfying work of literary art, full of intense, almost hallucinatory detail as it goes straight to the heart of a village’s passions and deceits, and the indomitable spirit of the young woman whose life is torn apart.
— Garry Disher, bestselling author and three-time Ned Kelly Award winner