The Life of Elves

“Only Rose,” a new novel by Muriel Barbery, familiar to Russian readers from “The Elegance of the Hedgehog,” tells about an unusual woman and a country that is granted to understand by far from everyone. Rose is in Japan for the first time. Her father, whom she never saw, died and left her a letter. And the impossible happened: after an enormous journey, she found herself in Kyoto, in her father’s house—one who collected and sold works of contemporary Japanese art. The young woman feels bitterness and anger, because essentially her life has been stolen from her—she never knew her father and lost her mother early. And yet every day, under the guidance of Paul, her father’s assistant, she follows a strange route, opening herself up to flowers, trees, palaces, and temples of the ancient city—and discovering a new version of herself along the way. The greatest miracle of life is revealed to her—love. First time in Russian!