Rita Monaldi and her husband Francesco Sorti have sold more than a million copies of their historical novel Imprimatur across Europe.



The novel, which will be published in Britain in May, tells the story of Atto Melani, an Italian castrato and spy at the court of Louis XIV of France in the 17th century.



However, Imprimatur was dropped by Mondadori, its Italian publisher, after the first print run of 15,000 copies, despite reaching number four on the bestseller list on its release in 2002.



Mr Sorti said Mondadori decided not to reprint the book because of pressure from the Vatican.