'An outstanding novel' Observer
'A writer of blistering intellect' Los Angeles Times
'Unexpected and richly imaginative' London Review of Books
'A first novel of intricate merit ... A rich imagination glitters throughout' Mail on Sunday
In the spring of 1914, German photographer August Sander captures a haunting image: three young men on their way to a country dance, themselves unknowingly on the brink of the First World War. This photograph becomes the focal point of Richard Powers' compelling debut novel.
The fate of the three farmers is intertwined with two contemporary stories: a museum-goer becomes obsessed with the photograph, and a young writer in Boston discovers he has a personal connection to it....
RICHARD POWERS is the bestselling author of Bewilderment, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize; The Overstory, winner of the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction and the William Dean Howells Medal, and a finalist for the Booker Prize; and The Echo Maker, winner of the National Book Award for Fiction. Powers is also the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship and the Pushcart Prize, among other accolades.
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