Shimmering with subversive brilliance . . . . this is not your conventional crime story

Janina Duszejko is elderly, lives a rather isolated life in a small rural community, looks after her neighbours’ vacant properties during the winter, loves her dogs, occasionally teaches English in the local school.

Using frequent capitalisations to create a homely phraseology, Olga Tokarczuk describes Duszejko’s way of life, her wry observations and musings on a wide variety of everyday issues, her deep convictions, for example on animal rights, her interest in astrology and William Blake, and her cynicism of human behaviour. It’s a charming engaging read.

The interpretations and convictions of isolated individuals have validity, though they are dismissed as eccentric by conventional society. For those who have the courage to pursue them to their logical conclusion, conflict with that society is inevitabl