From international bestselling author, Alessandro Baricco, comes a scintillating and sensual novel about a young woman’s ingress into a fantastically strange family.

The hand of the young woman in question has been promised to the scion of a noble family. She is to make her preparations for marriage at the family’s villa, where the inhabitants never seem to sleep. The atmosphere turns surreal as the days pass and her presence on the family estate begins to make itself felt on her future in-laws.

In this erotically charged and magical novel, Alessandro Baricco portrays a cast of mysterious characters who exist outside of the rules of causation as he tells a story, an adult fable, about fate and the difficult job of confronting the Other and creating an Us.

Alessandro Baricco
Alessandro Baricco, beloved by readers worldwide for his innovative take on magical realism, his atmospheric novels and memorable characters, is one of Italy's bestselling and most critically acclaimed authors. His novels include Silk (Vintage, 1998), An Iliad (Vintage International, 2006), and Mr. Gwyn (McSweeney's, 2014).

• Feb 4 2019
  “. . . unusual, warm, and beautifully written.”
  — Words Without Borders
• Sep 5 2016
  “This tale of lost innocence is poignantly told, “written” by a self-aware narrator who seamlessly shifts perspectives, giving the impression of being every character as well as the storyteller.”
  — The New Yorker
• Aug 19 2016
  "Mr. Baricco spins it all together into a work of elegance, eroticism and playful make-believe."
  — The Wall Street Journal