Ras and Alex are two very different men whose lives collide through events one summer in Italy.

We hear first the reflective, anguished introspective of Ras, who fled from Sri Lanka as a child following the violent death of his mother. His troubled relationship with his daughter infuses everything about him, and he is in turmoil not knowing how to respond to the horrors in his homeland.

Then Alex: successful and arrogant, he describes his desire for another man's wife, and this frustration in a life where everything effortlessly falls into place.

The narrative structure makes for a slow development of the plot while we are treated to an exploration of the power of art, and a perceptive, intense presentation of love, obsession, loss, and intense sorrow and grief. This is a book in which to wallow and savour, and has much to provoke lively book group discussions.