Peace talks

SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA NOVEL OF THE YEAR'There are war stories and there are love stories, but we only occasionally get war stories and love stories braided together.

Tim Finch has written a wonderful novel, tiny and epic both.

Laced with humour and sadness, this is an intimate account of what it means to make peace, both with others and with oneself' COLUM McCANN 'A shrewd delight' independent.co.ukEdvard Behrens is a senior diplomat of some repute, highly regarded for his work on international peace negotiations.

Under his arbitration, unimaginable atrocities are coolly dissected; invisible and ancient lines, grown taut and frayed with conflict, redrawn. In his latest post, Edvard has been sent a nondescript resort hotel in the Tyrol.

High up on this mountain, the air is bright and clear.

When he isn't working, Edvard reads, walks, listens to music.

He confides in no one - no one but his wife Anna. Anna, who he loves with all his heart; Anna, always present and yet forever absent.

Honest, honourable, tragic, witty, wise, an unforgettable novel of love, loss, and the human longing for peace, Peace Talks maps the darkest and most tender territories of the human heart.