by Tom McCarthy
First published 2010
Serge Carrefax grows up in early twentieth century England where his father runs a school for deaf children and conducts wireless communication experiments. Serge navigates a world of sound and silence alongside his older sister Sophie, whose brilliance comes paired with deep troubles. Their intense bond shapes him as he ventures into an unstable world beyond their family. He has an affair with a nurse at a Bohemian spa, then serves as a radio operator on reconnaissance planes during World War I. When enemy fire brings down his aircraft, Serge endures captivity in a German prison camp before managing to escape. London beckons him back, where the mysterious Empire Wireless Chain recruits him for a mission that takes him to Cairo. His journey ultimately leads him down into an Egyptian tomb, where he faces a climax that may seal his fate. The story follows Serge through these pivotal moments as he struggles to find his place between the competing forces of connection and isolation that have defined his life.
Genres: literary-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, adventure
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: England, Germany, Cairo
Period: Early 20th Century
310 pages · Hardcover · Knopf
Content warnings: war