The Book of Emil

Emil suffers from chronic insomnia, while his mother is gradually losing her memory, forgetting even her own name and her son’s face. The only thing holding their reality together is a strict daily ritual. In an attempt to start over, they move to a snowbound island cut off from the rest of the world and settle in a former school building. But the peace they hope for proves to be an illusion. One night, the silence of the empty corridor is shattered by a ringing telephone. When Emil picks up the receiver, he hears the voice of his dead brother, begging for help. Now the boy must peer beyond the boundary between the living and the dead. Is it possible to bring back someone who is gone forever? What is his mother’s amnesia really hiding, and could the truth prove fatal for them?

The Book of Emil is the long-awaited novel by Illarion Pavliuk, author of the bestsellers I See You Are Interested in Darkness, The Dance of the Simpleton, and White Ashes.