An elegant and haunting dystopian novel about a group of individuals gathered to relearn how to navigate the world after a mysterious illness strips them of their memories

Nestled in an idyllic locale beside the sea, The Center is a place of rehabilitation and rebuilding. Students arrive nameless, their memories and sense of identity wiped by a strange illness.

Each day, they attend classes that will help them relearn the right ways to speak and live; they practice the roles they’ll assume once they’ve graduated and returned to society. In their free time, they negotiate a burgeoning social hierarchy and watch old DVDs together; stories of characters whose names they adopt: Maria, Chandler, Chino, Gunther . . . But as errant memories of errands, pets, lovers, beloved books, and careers begin to threaten the strict curriculum of The Center, students begin to question the definitions given to them, and explore the ways in which they might define themselves.

A stunning, beautifully told story about what makes us who we are, The Definitions examines the limits of language, the power of human connection, and the ways the human spirit can flourish even under the most oppressive conditions.