“Acerbic, elusive, poetic and chilling, the writing is demanding in a rarefied manner. Its implications are both affecting and disturbing.”—Los Angeles Times

Set in the once-charming capital city of an authoritarian country, where an elderly dissident poet, Howard, lives with his fiercely loyal daughter, Judy. Judy falls for Jack, Jack moves in. The streets of the city run with blood as the regime crushes the poor and represses dissent. Meanwhile, Jack resents the ease with which Howard reads difficult books...