This is the Hindi translation of Nobel prize-winning author Patrick Modiano’s French novel Du plus loin de l’oubue, published in 1996. The translator, Monica Singh, captures the intricacies of Modiano’s complex narrative with lucidity.

The novel is a moving saga of relationships, the carefree spirit of youth, reckless love and deep loss. A middle-aged writer reflects on the 1960s when he was a young student besotted by the charming Jacqueline. Driven by the hope, excitement and conviction of young love, they decide to run away together. Their fantasies of blissful love are soon countered by the demands of real life. They attempt to come to terms with the distance and disappointment of their failing relationship until Jacqueline leaves mysteriously without any explanation. With the promise of romance thwarted suddenly, the protagonist’s reverie comes to an end. Through a surreal maze of events and experiences, he finds his identity in the world of literature. The ephemeral nature of relationships, the intensity and emptiness of desire and the alternating world of trust and betrayal lead him into an existence anchored in solitude and memories.

Fifteen years later, the separated lovers meet in Paris and spend a day together. Will they be able to connect across time and spaces that have crept up between them? Will they find a love they lost? Can the past be buried, or will hopes of a future be rekindled? Will the fantasy of how life could have been together haunt them forever? A soul-searching narrative, the novel is gripping, funny, tender and profound.