'A strange, haunting, and utterly original exploration of displacement and desire' Tea Obreht, author of The Tiger's Wife, New York Times Book Review. 'Fearless, delicate, beautiful, sad ,haunting and wonderful. A brilliant novel that mesmerizes with both its humanity and its utter uniqueness' Jeff Vander Meer. In 1980s Yugoslavia, a young girl named Emine is married off to a man she hardly knows. But soon her country is torn apart by war, and she is forced to flee with her family.Decades later Emine's son, Bekim, has grown up a social outcast in a country suspicious of foreigners. Aside from casual hook-ups, his only companion is a pet boaconstrictor - until one night in a gay bar, Bekim meets a talking cat. It isthis witty, charming, manipulative creature that starts him on a journey backto Kosovo to confront his demons and make sense of the remarkable, cruel history of his family.And soon he learns that love can be found in the most unexpected places.
