'Absolutely exquisite . . . a contemporary classic' Dave Eggers
'Death in Venice with more sex, more booze, more action.' FT
BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week
Ostend, 1936: the Belgian seaside town is playing host to a coterie of artists, intellectuals and madmen, who find themselves in limbo while Europe gazes into an abyss of fascism and war.
Among them is Stefan Zweig, a man in crisis: his German publisher has shunned him, his marriage is collapsing, his house in Austria no longer feels like home. Along with his lover Lotte, he seeks refuge in this paradise of promenades and parasols, where he reunites with his estranged friend Joseph Roth. For a moment, they create a fragile haven; but as Europe begins to crumble around them, they find themselves trapped on an uncanny kind of holiday, watching the world burn.
- ISBN10 1782272038
- ISBN13 9781782272038
- Publish Date 28 January 2016
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 15 March 2022
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Pushkin Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 176
- Language English