The action of the new novel by Peter Hoeg - the author of Smilla and Her Sense of Snow, well known to Russian readers - takes place in today's Copenhagen, shortly after the earthquake. A famous clown and musician, an admirer of Bach and a poker player, deprived of citizenship in his native country, 42-year-old Kasper Krone is endowed with an extraordinary ear: every person sounds to him in a certain key. The sound overload of the modern city and the disorder of his own life force Kasper to constantly strive for silence - a high, divine silence that has practically disappeared from the world around him. One day he finds an uninvited guest at his home - a nine-year-old girl radiating silence around her - a gift akin to his own...