By the author of the highly acclaimed literary bestseller Dictionary of the Khazars, this is a tale of a mysterious quest that is part modern Odyssey and part crossword puzzle. It begins with the story of a brilliant but failed architect in Belgrade and his search for his father, an officer who vanished in Greece during World War II.
The truth about his fate—some of it set in motion 2,000 years ago and some of it by the Nazis—is raveled in the history and secrets of Mount Athos, the most ancient of all monasteries, perched atop its inaccessible mountain on the Aegean.
“A hugely ambitious, playful, inventive, demanding, magical, linguistically sensuous reading experience.”—The Washington Post
“A brilliantly playful and haunting novel.”—The New York Times Book Review
- ISBN10 0241128773
- ISBN13 9780241128770
- Publish Date 15 April 1991 (first published 7 November 1990)
- Publish Status Unknown
- Out of Print 6 April 1993
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
- Imprint Hamish Hamilton Ltd
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 352
- Language English