A beautiful and unlikely love story about what unites us from the bestselling author of Captain Corelli's Mandolin.

Chris is in his forties: bored, lonely, trapped in a loveless, sexless marriage.
He's a stranger to the 1970s youth culture of London, a stranger to himself on the night he invites a prostitute into his car.
Roza has recently moved to London from eastern Europe. She's in her twenties, but has already lived a life filled with danger, misadventure, romance, and tragedy. And though she's not a prostitute, when she's propositioned by Chris, she gets into his car anyway.

Over the next few months Roza tells Chris the stories of her past. She's a fast-talking Scheherazade, saving her own life by telling it to Chris. And he takes in her tales as if they were oxygen in an otherwise airless world. But is Roza telling the truth? Does it even matter?

'Sublimely funny and moving' Independent

A beautifully wrought and unlikely love story, shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award: 'Sublimely funny and moving...by the time I'd finished this sleek little novel I'd laughed out loud numerous times and, eventually, cried.' Independent

About the Author
Louis de Bernieres is the best-selling author of Captain Corelli's Mandolin, which won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, Best Book in 1995. His most recent books are The Dust That Falls From Dreams, Birds Without Wings and A Partisan's Daughter, a collection of stories, Notwithstanding, and a collection of poetry, Imagining Alexandria.

Reviews
A triumph - a finely executed little masterpiece * Daily Mirror *
It's a glory...intensely moving...It's a wise and moving novel, perfectly accomplished. It shows that no life is ordinary. It shines fresh light on the nature of love * Guardian *
Sublimely funny and moving...by the time I'd finished this sleek little novel I'd laughed out loud numerous times and, eventually, cried. That's as true a testimony to a book's loveliness as I know * Independent *
A striking and wise novel, deceptively slight yet emotionally profound * New Statesman *
This is a silk stocking of a novel: fragile, light - and yet possessed of surprising tensile strength...making it look this simple is a real art * The Times *



Book Information
ISBN 9780099520283
Author Louis de Bernieres
Format Paperback
Page Count 288
Imprint Vintage
Publisher Vintage Publishing
Weight(grams) 202g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 17mm