Communist Romania, 1989: a grey place of mysterious queues, ubiquitous
informers and daily news flashes about a man-eating bear that is terrorising the
country. Amidst the daily drudge of work, rationing and careful conversation
with neighbours, two lives unexpectedly collide when an idealistic police
detective, Constantin, is tasked with solving a string of grisly murders, and a
rebellious school child, Lia, is unwittingly drawn into her elderly neighbour's
seditious plot. Dryly satirical, incredibly tense and deeply moving, ASTRONAUT!
is both a detective novel and a coming-of-age tale, one with a perennially
relevant message: the lies we accept today become the truths of tomorrow. More
praise for ASTRONAUT!: 'Had me on the edge of my seat' - Kenan Orhan, author of
The Renovation 'If Solzhenitsyn and Hans Christian Andersen had had literary
offspring, it might be Oana Aristide.' - Saďd Sayrafiezadeh, author of American
Estrangement 'Completely absorbing.' - Georgina Godwin, broadcaster and literary
journalist 'With dark, bone-dry wit [. . . ] Astronaut! is quite unlike anything
else so far this year.' - IRISH TIMES 'Part thriller, part fable, this is
fascinating, funny and very moving - highly recommended.' - GUARDIAN 'Brilliant,
compulsive and thrilling. I will be reading this book again!' - Alice Winn,
author of IN MEMORIAM 'One of the best novels I've read this year.' - Joanna
Quinn, author of The Whalebone Theatre 'You will love this book!' - Jennifer
Croft, translator of Flights by Olga Tokarczuk and author of The Extinction of
Irena Rey