* LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2025 *

An unforgettable debut novel about the journey of three women and one extremely endangered snail through contemporary Ukraine

''A fierce and funny road-trip novel'' GUARDIAN, the 50 hottest books to read right now
''Inventive and playful'' SUNDAY TIMES
''A stunning debut'' OBSERVER
''I was gripped . . . Brilliant'' DAILY MAIL
''A thrilling ride'' FINANCIAL TIMES
''Brilliant and heart-stopping'' LOS ANGELES TIMES
''Startling and ambitious'' NEW YORK TIMES
''Animated by dark humor and cool fury'' NEW YORKER
''Dexterous and formally inventive'' MARCEL THEROUX, GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE DAY

Ukraine, 2022. Yeva is a maverick scientist who scours the country''s forests and valleys, trying and failing to breed rare snails while her relatives urge her to settle down and start a family of her own. What they don''t know: Yeva already dates plenty of men-not for love, but to fund her work-entertaining Westerners who come to Ukraine on guided romance tours believing they''ll find docile brides untainted by feminism.

Nastia and her sister, Solomiya, are also entangled in the booming marriage industry, posing as a hopeful bride and her translator while secretly searching for their missing mother, who vanished after years of fierce activism against the romance tours.

So begins a journey of a lifetime across a country on the brink of war: three angry women, a truckful of kidnapped bachelors, and Lefty, a last-of-his-kind snail with one final shot at perpetuating his species.

''Fantastic . . . I love works that are smarter than I am and this is one'' PERCIVAL EVERETT, author of Booker-shortlisted JAMES

''Funny and smart, full of science, longing and adventure . . . This is essential reading'' ANN PATCHETT, bestselling author of TOM LAKE

''Heartbreaking, hilarious, profound, and vital'' LARA PRESCOTT, bestselling author of THE SECRETS WE KEEP