The book
A tale of mortifying heartbreak, momentous love, horrifying deaths and delicious apfel kuchen, in which a spider-eating old man and the local doctor form an unlikely alliance, fate unites a heartbroken baker and a euphonium, the most beautiful girl and boy in the village find love, and the town's least effective policeman, with a little help from a dog called Hans, exposes a crime so grotesque that it will shock the nation.
The Reviews
Totally sick and brilliant, in all the right ways. He sucks you into his world. I loved it.
Douglas CouplandRhodes is that real, rare thing - a natural storyteller.
PAUL BAILEY, Sunday Times
Oh, how we love Dan Rhodes. Reliably odd but fabulous.
GuardianAbsolutely flawless comic writing. Original fresh and funny.
Observer [on GOLD]Quirky and original, and the storytelling is truly virtuoso. A literary treasure.
Louis de Bernieres, [on TIMOLEON VIETA]Surely the true best of Granta's Best [Young British Novelists] list. Everybody should go out and buy TIMOLEON VIETA COME HOME ... A story worthy of W.G Sebald, universal in its scope and ambition.
ROSE TREMAIN, Daily Telegraph