WINNER OF THE 2015 ENGLISH PEN AWARD

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2017 INTERNATIONAL DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2015 GREGOR VON REZZORI AWARD

A border town on the steppe. A small group of emaciated and feral refugees appears out of nowhere, spreading fear and panic in the town. When police commissioner Pontus Beg orders their arrest, evidence of a murder is found in their luggage. As he begins to unravel the history of their hellish journey, it becomes increasingly intertwined with the search for his own origins that he has embarked upon. Now he becomes the group's inquisitor ... and, finally, something like their saviour.
Beg's likeability as a character and his dry-eyed musings considering the nature of religion keep the reader pinned to the page from the start. At the same time, the apocalyptic atmosphere of the group's exodus across the steppes becomes increasingly vivid and laden with meaning as the novel proceeds, in seeming synchronicity with the development of Beg's character.
With a rare blend of humour and wisdom, Tommy Wieringa links man's dark nature with the question of who we are and whether redemption is possible.

PRAISE FOR TOMMY WIERINGA

'Quietly compelling ... Simply but intriguingly told.' The Sun Herald

'Poetic, ambitious ... The pricelessness of our common humanity is one of numerous heavyweight ideas Wieringa balances carefully on his novel's laden back ... Short, freighted words and sentences carry the novel's ambiguous, questing symbolism.' The Guardian