Raised in a household of monsters - human and make-believe, during the 1980s on the island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean, the narrator takes refuge in the pages of books. This darkly humorous yet poignant account chronicles the journey of a resilient young woman battling to write her own story, in a community struggling with its colonial past.

In August 1943, Sergeant Craddock leads his battle-weary platoon down Via Garibaldi in Catania, Sicily. The next few weeks take on a dreamlike quality as newfound relationships flourish and the war itself recedes into the distance. Against this backdrop, the second book of Alexander Baron's War Trilogy meditates upon friendship, loyalty and love.

A promising young football player returns home to his tiny village, his dreams in tatters and a dark secret haunting his conscience, in a beautiful, unforgettable novel about hope and redemption, when everything seems lost...