“Once upon a time there was a man who worked very hard and very 
quickly, and who had left his soul far behind him long ago. In fact his life was all right without his soul–he slept, ate, worked, drove a car and even played tennis. But sometimes he felt as if the world around him were flat, as if he were moving across a smooth page in a math book that was covered in evenly spaced squares…”
–from The Lost Soul
The Lost Soul by Olga Tokarczuk, Illustrated by Joanna Concejo, and Translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones is the only book in English for readers of all ages by Nobel Prize-winning novelist Olga Tokarczuk. It is a deeply moving reflection on our capacity to live in peace with ourselves, to remain patient, attentive to the world. It is a story that beautifully weaves together the voice of Tokarczuk and the finely detailed pen-and-ink drawings of Concejo, who together create a parallel narrative universe full of secrets, evocative of another time. Here a man has forgotten what makes his heart feel full. He moves to a house away from all that is familiar to him to wait for his soul to return.
“The Lost Soul is a treasure. Tokarczuk and Concejo offer their readers another way to see the velocity of days, the grace in waiting, and time itself. Turning Concejo’s pages of wonderful drawings gave me a much-needed pause, and a reassuring perspective on loss, patience, and reward.” —Leanne Shapton, author of Guestbook
Interiors
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