Zoli

"A great book and a marvellously crafted story" — Roddy Doyle

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