Fourth Estate, London, 2002. Good secondhand copy.

This startling, beautiful novel set in South America explores the mysterious concepts of love and home.

Omar has won an award to write the authorised biography of a celebrated yet obscure writer, Jules Gund, author of ‘The Gondola’. It only remains for him to obtain permission from Gund’s literary executors: his widow, his mistress and his brother. Their lives still revolve around Ochos Rios, a dilapidated mansion in Uruguay that Gund’s parents built after fleeing Nazi Germany. The three cannot agree to approve the work – although Adam Gund feels sure this will not stop Omar, because biographers are clever, vindictive, ruthless people.

If Omar cannot reverse the executors’ decision, he will lose his award, his job and, perhaps, his redoubtable girlfriend. Not allowing himself time for reflection, Omar acts on instinct and flies to Uruguay. There, he disturbs the uneasy intimacy of the world Gund has left behind and changes it forever.

A writer of unusual restraint and sly humour, Peter Cameron brings a light touch to this romantic, moving story.