A LETTER TO ST AUGUSTINE FROM HIS DISCARDED CONCUBINE - IS IT AUTHENTIC? A box of Old Latin manuscripts comes to light in an Argentine flea market. An apocryphal invention by some 17th or 18th century scholar, or a transcript of what it purports to be - a hitherto unheard of letter to St Augustine from the woman he renounced for chastity? VITA BREVIS is both an entrancing human document and a fascianting insight into the life and philosophy of St Augustine. Gaarder'sinterpretation of Floria's letter is as playful, inventive and questioning as SOPHIE'S WORLD.