'Like Isabel Allende - Kassabova has a gift for measured, eloquent, no-frills storytelling.' - Scotland on Sunday 'Like her poetry and memoir, Kassabova's fiction is taut and evocative. Her writing conveys the dichotomy between the country's lush beauty and the hotel's foreboding atmosphere. ... Inspired by the landscape of Ecuador as well as the end of a personal relationship, Kassabova's latest novel is a commentary on human strength. Elegant prose and unusual plot lines will intrigue the reader to the finish.' - Herald Scotland 'This is a wonderfully intriguing story about relationship dynamics, our innermost fears, and a Lost-type plot that keeps building momentum with every page' - The Scottish Review of Books 'Intelligent, psychologically compelling... a truly mesmerising read.' - The Scotsman 'Kassabova conjures up a convincing portrait of a tropical backwater battered by politics and weather - with a deliciously unexpected ending.' - The Guardian 'Reminiscent of Maugham's Borneo Stories and Bowles' The Sheltering Sky... ultimately however, concerned with individual relations.' - Times Literary Supplement

KAPKA KASSABOVA was born in Bulgaria in 1973 and learned to speak English at the age of sixteen, when her parents emigrated to England and later to New Zealand. She now lives in Edinburgh, and is the author of two novels, four poetry collections and two travel guides. Her memoir Street without a Name was shortlisted for the European Book Prize and the Authors' Club Dolman Travel Prize in 2009. She is currently a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Strathclyde University in Glasgow.