From the bestselling author of The Monk of Mokha and The Circle comes a taut suspenseful story
of two foreigners' role in a nation's fragile peace. An unnamed country is leaving the darkness
of a decade at war and to commemorate the armistice the government commissions a new road
connecting two halves of the state. Two men foreign contractors from the same company are
sent to finish the highway. While one is flighty and adventurous wanting to experience the
nightlife and people the other wants only to do the work and go home. But both men must
eventually face the absurdities of their positions and the dire consequences of their
presence. With echoes of J. M. Coetzee and Graham Greene this timeless novel questions whether
we can ever understand another nation's war and what role we have in forging anyone's peace.
