'A great book and a marvellously crafted story' Roddy Doyle

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Zoli Novotna is a poet by accident as much as desire. As Fascism spreads over Czechoslovakia, she and her grandfather flee an unspeakable loss to join a clan of fellow Romani harpists. As Zoli shapes the ancient songs to her times, she finds her gift embraced - by her own people, and, for the first time, by the world outside their circle.

But Zoli has become an instrument herself - wielded by the hands of the powerful. And her greatness in her art will see her severed and exiled from the people and tradition she loves, setting her on a path she must tread alone.

'A hymn to specificity, a clamour against homogenisation . With each voice McCann performs an astonishing feat' Richard Eyre, Guardian

'A writer of large and driving vision . Zoli contains passages of stunning lyricism and sharp ironic force' New York Times

'Poetic and beautifully observed' Daily Telegraph