Caroline

When Mr Shaw meets Caroline on his summer holiday she turns his world upside down. Caroline, whose eyes a man could drown in. Caroline, who likes a radish or two. Caroline, who is in fact a donkey. To the outrage of his neighbours and the bemusement of his wife, when Mr Shaw returns to the city he takes Caroline with him. She plays chess magnificently, charms his colleagues and, most importantly, Caroline re-awakens in Mr Shaw an appetite for life he thought he'd lost. But can this idyll last? Unfolding with the beauty and power of fable, Caroline depicts a glorious Indian summer in one man's life. It is tender, funny and endlessly enjoyable.'Medvei's fable about the inexplicable nature of human passion unfolds with a gentle surrealism' Financial Times'Medvei's prose is limpid and particular, telling the story with an exquisite control that interfuses the sublime and ridiculous in exact proportions ...The result is pleasurable and profound. Medvei never puts a foot wrong' Times Literary Supplement'A complete delight' Independent'This absolutely engrossing tale is written with a serene poise' Sunday Times