A compelling story of family, empire, and memory'"an ambitious and prize-worthy debut" (The Sunday Times, London) Luke Williams's exquisitely written debut novel is narrated by Evie Steppman, a woman born with an extraordinarily acute sense of hearing. Now, at fifty-four, alone in an attic in Scotland that is filled with objects from her past, and with her powers of hearing starting to fade, she sets out to record the events of her life. From her recollections come an outpouring of stories that transcend history; tales of a twelfth-century mapmaker mingle with memories of Evie's childhood growing up in Nigeria in the 1950s and her travels across America in the 1960s. Williams's fascination with history and his talent for evoking multiple voices will bring to mind the work of Salman Rushdie and David Mitchell.