Forest Dark

From the bestselling; twice Orange Prize-shortlisted; National Book Award-nominated author comes a vibrant tale of transformation: of a man in his later years and a woman novelist; each drawn to the Levant on a journey of self-discovery Jules Epstein has vanished from the world. He leaves no trace but a rundown flat patrolled by a solitary cockroach; and a monogrammed briefcase abandoned in the desert. To Epstein's mystified family; the disappearance of a man whose drive and avidity have been a force to be reckoned with for sixty-eight years marks the conclusion of a gradual fading. This transformation began in the wake of Epstein's parents' deaths; and continued with his divorce after more than thirty-five years of marriage; his retirement from a New York legal firm; and the rapid shedding of possessions he'd spent a lifetime accumulating. With the last of his wealth and a nebulous plan; he departs for the Tel Aviv Hilton. Meanwhile; a novelist leaves her husband and children behind in Brooklyn and checks into the same hotel; hoping that the view of the pool she used to swim in on childhood holidays will unlock her writer's block. But when a man claiming to be a retired professor of literature recruits her for a project involving Kafka; she is drawn into a mystery that will take her on a metaphysical journey and change her in ways she could never have imagined. Bursting with life and humour; this is a profound; mesmerising; achingly beautiful novel of metamorphosis and self-realisation - of looking beyond all that is visible towards the infinite.