Peace Talks

Costa Book Award Shortlist: A recently widowed diplomat negotiates with his own grief in a moving novel “laced with humor and sadness” (Colum McCann, author of Apeirogon).

Edvard Behrends is a highly regarded senior diplomat who has made his reputation as a mediator in international peace negotiations. In his latest post, he’s been sent to a resort hotel in the Tyrol. High up on this mountain, the air is bright and clear. When he isn’t working, Edvard reads, walks, listens to music. He confides in no one—no one but his wife, Anna. Anna, whom he loves with all his heart; Anna, always present and yet forever absent. And as he does the delicate work of keeping humankind’s darker instincts in check with patience and carefully chosen words, he tries also to find his own equilibrium in this “intimate account of what it means to make peace, both with others and with oneself” (Colum McCann).

“A quietly intense novel of sudden grief and its aftermath.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Finch’s elegant and wintry novel has something of the feel of early Kazuo Ishiguro, and a similar acute grasp of both character and situation, aided by the author’s background in refugee and migrant charities.” —The Observer

“A tender and elegant portrait of a grieving individual searching for personal and political peace.” —The Times