How could I not be hooked by Michael Ondaatje’s latest novel? A mysterious story, the language ensnaring me with unusual twists and structures. Nathaniel is the main protagonist, and he is „thrown“ into a world of dubious people, seemingly there to protect him and his sister during their parents‘ absence. War has different rules – and these rules seem to continue even when the war is over in the UK. True identities are hidden away in filing cabinets, and feelings of love are suppressed, because closeness means danger. Growing up in this environment, Nathaniel only finds very few people he can trust, and even those relationships are very fragile. When I read the book, I was drawn in by the atmosphere of London by night, the boat on the waterways, Suffolk, the greyhounds in an empty, uninhabited house for sale where Nathaniel finds a temporary shelter, a place for making love. This is also a story about a mother who leaves her children behind to protect them. And the speed and direction of wind before D-Day.