The first time Peter Diggs saw Amaryllis she was at a bus stop where the street sign said "Balsamic" although there was nothing vinegary about the place. The bus was unthinkably tall, made of yellow, orange and pink rice paper, lit from within like a Japanese lantern. That was a dream, but where this romance goes as the dream begins to intersect reality (not unlike a Mobius strip) is nothing that a reader can quite prepare for.
"Trust me, I'm a weirdo," says Amaryllis as she and Peter embark on their nocturnal experimentation which will leave none of us - Amaryllis, Peter or reader - on quite the same footing with reality.
Russell Hoban's compellingly lucid yet disorienting narrative is set in a solidly detailed London. Entering one of his fictional worlds is always an eye-opening, mind-expanding proposition and there the enchantment brings love itself into the spotlight.
