Powered by both wit and compassion, and in characteristically vivid prose, this love story with a violently unromantic setting excavates the depths and contradictions of the human soul. “Powerful and electric.... A book that may stand for years as the triumph of his career.” —NPR

Once upon a time there was a king, and the king commissioned his favorite wizard to create a magic mirror. This mirror didn’t show you your reflection. It showed you your soul—it showed you who you really were.

The wizard couldn’t look at it without turning away. The king couldn’t look at it. The courtiers couldn’t look at it. A chestful of treasure was offered to anyone who could look at it for sixty seconds without turning away. And no one could.

Can love survive the mirror? Can we even meet each other’s eye, after we have seen who we really are?