'For a long time I'd been convinced that I occupied a remote and unusual part of the world. Suddenly I wasn't so sure.' Living in a house made entirely of tin, on a great flat plain, far from any neighbour, with the wind for company: what could be better? Then, if a female acquaintance should arrive, make her intentions clear, make her mark, make a home, make some rules: what to do? Your nearest neighbours choose to move on, to move away; when they return, they're on a mission: do you follow in their footsteps? What is to be gained? What is to be lost? Magnus Mills, in this his third novel, has produced another singular, wry and uncanny tale - of civilization and discontent, of community and solitude, of domesticity and adventure, of leaders and followers. With it, Mills reaffirms that he is among the most distinctive and original writers at work in Britain today.