'Magical ... lyrical ... an uncommonly graceful fantasy romance' Time Magazine

'One of the literary greats of the twentieth century' Margaret Atwood

Fleeing from the monotony of his life in the US suburbs, Hugh Rogers stumbles into 'the beginning place' - a gateway to Tembreabrezi, an idyllic, unchanging world of eternal twilight, where time flows more slowly than in the outside world.

Irena Pannis was a teenager when she first found 'the beginning place' and has been going back and forth for seven years. She has another life there, another family, and a sense of belonging she lacks elsewhere in her life. So Irena resents Hugh for his sudden appearance into her hidden sanctuary.

But then Irena discovers something is wrong: the paths which connect the town with the rest of the country are closing and somehow no one can reach or leave Tembreabrezi except her - and Irena herself has difficulty travelling between the two worlds. The closing is not material, but emotional, based on fear of the outside world. Despite her anger with Hugh, the two of them must work together - with consequences neither of them looked for, or expected...