Memory, Reason and Imagination - this is the theme of Andrew Crumey’s delightful historical phantasmagoria, which reflects all the richness and diversity of the 18th century. The renowned scientist recalls his life, the splendor of the Parisian salons and his love for the one who deceived him for many years... Jacobite exile reflects on travels to other planets, and in a prison cell a tramp tells a rich jeweler strange, haunting parables about love, magic and fate... Like an elegant piece of music, all these stories add up to an allegory of human knowledge. Artful, tantalizing, sometimes deeply touching - this the novel amazingly absorbed the magic and spirit of the past.