THE GEOMETER LOBACHEVSKY

With elegance and precision, this beautiful book shows the forces which act on the structures of buildings and those which impact on relationships. (Wendy Erskine, author of Sweet Home)

Set in the early 1950s, the story follows Soviet geometer (mathematician) Nikolai Lobachevsky who is a Glav Torf representative aiding Bord na Móna with a land survey. In Ireland on this state visit, he receives a letter from the MGB ordering him back to Leningrad for 'a special appointment'. Immediately suspicious, he goes into hiding on a small island in the Shannon Estuary where he waits in the hope of some day returning safely home.

Following Duncan's critically acclaimed Love Notes from a German Building Site (2019), A Sabbatical in Leipzig (2020) and Midfield
Dynamo (2021), Duncan's themes of emigration, displacement and work connect Ireland with the world stage. Colm Tóibín said of Love Notes: 'Written in spare, exact prose . Duncan writes beautifully about cold weather, gruff manners, systems of hierarchy . A portrait of work [and] a picture of a sensibility'.

Adrian Duncan is an artist and award-winning writer based in Ireland and Berlin. His debut novel Love Notes from a German Building Site was published by The Lilliput Press and Head of Zeus in 2019.