MICHELLE DE KRETSER’S fiction has been praised by Hilary Mantel, Anita Desai, Ursula K. Le Guin, and A.S. Byatt, among many others. She is the author of six previous novels, including the Miles Franklin Award winners, Questions of Travel and The Life to Come, the Man Booker Prize long-listed The Lost Dog, and Kirkus Prize finalist Scary Monsters.