In the Loire Valley stands the legendary Chateau de Chambord, for which Leonardo da Vinci designed two spiral staircases that wind around the dizzyingly empty space in the center of the main donjon tower. Their ingenious configuration allows people standing on one staircase to see those standing on another, but not to converge with them. “How is it that you always rise alone? And you always go down alone? And you always, always disagree with those you see opposite, very close?” - the hero of the novel, Edouard Furfoz, asks himself. The famous French writer, laureate of the Goncourt Prize Pascal Quignard, an expert on antiquities, a wonderful stylist, explores in this book the subtlest nuances of human relationships - love and friendship, envy and enmity, with his inherent deep and original talent.