A thin line separated his life from his wife's, and from all his memories of a happy past.
The pharmacist of Taxham, a man with no ambition in this life, separated from his wife but continued to live together in the same house. They drew up a map of their home and a schedule to ensure they never found themselves in the same room.
In separate episodes linked only by a fading thread of memories, the pharmacist leaves his home on a long journey back to a confused past and a completely different life, of which he now remembers only ghosts.
It is the journey of a man in conflict with himself, searching for redemption. In poetic language, he begins to speak, transforming from the Taxham pharmacist into a driver who takes his car to the Alps, accompanied by two old friends: one a former Olympic ski champion, the other a renowned poet. He drives through a tunnel to a strange, fantastical land, finding himself suddenly back in his former life in his pharmacy, only to discover that everything has changed completely. This novel is an exploration of the poetics of language, of the individual's deep-seated desire to belong to something, and it is also an exploration of the individual's alienation in life.
