This enigmatic Swiss novel begins with a suburban couple putting their children to bed after returning from a family holiday. With Ella and Konrad asleep, Thomas and Astrid settle down with a glass of wine and the Sunday paper. But Konrad soon wakes and when Astrid goes upstairs to see to him, Thomas leaves the house without a word – and doesn’t come back. The ensuing narrative is divided between Astrid’s attempt to carry on as normal – attributing Thomas’s absence from his accountancy firm to shingles – and her husband’s apparently aimless and increasingly risky wanderings in the Alps.
As usual with Stamm, the story gets its energy from an intriguing blankness about motive, with nothing presented by way of justification for Thomas’s actions. While it’s never sentimental, – apart, perhaps, from the faintly unsatisfactory ending – there’s some exceptionally moving writing as Astrid finds herself unable to accept her husband’s presumed death.
• To the Back of Beyond by Peter Stamm (translated by Michael Hofmann) is published by Granta (£12.99). To order a copy for £11.04 go to bookshop.theguardian.com or call 0330 333 6846. Free UK p&p over £10, online orders only. Phone orders min p&p of £1.99
