In the middle of the only ocean, in the blackest abyss, in the most burning light, in the ever growing blue and living distance, the earth’s crust has torn and erupted, fallen and risen, an thrown it’s innermost fires upward, outward, forming an island.

Thus begins the strange and deeply fascinating story of the dentist Carlo, who pulls out all of his teeth and leaves a comfortable life in interwar Europe to pursue a toothless existence as a recluse on a deserted island in the Pacific. Before long he has unwelcome visitors, an adventurous newlywed couple, and all of a sudden there are social conflicts on the small island. Things doesn’t get any better when an eccentric baroness sets up camp at the beach, together with her male harem. The fight for existence is brutal, and it is hard to tell who is the biggest threat, human or nature.

In her fourth novel, based on true events, award winning author Ida Hegazi Høyer depicts a micro society trembling with conflict, emphasizing how small the matters of humans can appear next to nature itself.