At the outset we meet the novel’s narrator, twelve-year-old Minou, who is attempting to unravel a mystery: namely, what happened to her mother, last seen a year ago walking ‘out into the cold morning rain with a large black umbrella’. Minou’s quest is echoed by that of her war-ravaged father, who, galvanised by the appearance of a mysterious frozen boy on the beach, is determined to find the ‘absolute truth’ in the logic of Descartes and other philosophers.

Taking place over three days on the remote island, Minou’s recollections of the circumstances surrounding her mother’s disappearance are woven into the narrative in clean, elegant prose. Although the novel loses some momentum after its artful opening, Minou’s encounters with the island’s other inhabitants – idealistic Priest, former circus magician Boxman, and his dog No Name – are charming enough to propel the story.

Much like the protagonist of another novel, Sophie’s World (1995), by Jostein Gaarder, Minou faces questions of both a philosophical and emotional nature: What is truth? How do we deal with loss? Are some things best left unspoken? Part fable, part puzzle, the novel touches on themes such as the power of belief, love, and the opposing forces of logic and imagination.

Several threads are left open at the novel’s end – as if rejecting the notion of any universal truths. Is it an appropriate ending? To a certain type of philosopher, perhaps. But, although there is strength in what is left unsaid, it also hinders one’s ability to reach a deeply satisfying conclusion.