'A great book and a marvellously crafted story' Roddy Doyle____________________________________Zoli Novotna is a poet by accident as much as desire. As Fascism spreads over Czechoslovakia, she and her grandfather flee an unspeakable loss to join a clan of fellow Romani harpists. As Zoli shapes the ancient songs to her times, she finds her gift embraced - by her own people, and, for the first time, by the world outside their circle.But Zoli has become an instrument herself - wielded by the hands of the powerful. And her greatness in her art will see her severed and exiled from the people and tradition she loves, setting her on a path she must tread alone...'A hymn to specificity, a clamour against homogenisation ... With each voice McCann performs an astonishing feat' Richard Eyre, Guardian'A writer of large and driving vision ... Zoli contains passages of stunning lyricism and sharp ironic force' New York Times'Poetic and beautifully observed' Daily Telegraph