Continental Novel

A new novel by the author of "The Palace of the Drowned Woman." Henri, who served as a gendarme in Algeria, fled the country at the start of the war for independence and now works for distant relatives involved in some shady dealings. Luisa, born in an unremarkable English village and dedicated to caring for her father, a World War II veteran, dreams of escaping the backwoods to a big and beautiful world. Their paths will cross in Spain, where Luisa will take what Henri is obligated to return, or else he will be in trouble. He embarks on a chase after her across Europe — from Granada to Paris, from Belgrade to Istanbul — but cannot make a decisive step, and the endless game of cat-and-mouse goes on and on. Both must come to terms with a difficult past, uncover each other's secrets, and write the story of their own lives, rejecting the familiar plots in which "bad" heroes inevitably deserve punishment.