On the Calculation of Volume V by Solvej Balle

Tara Selter has become someone new. It becomes clear just how ridiculous it is: life in progressive time. Or was. Before we came to a halt. How foolishly one can spend a life in a time that moves forward. The nonsense of the ceaseless grind.

Tara has returned to Thomas, but she is no longer the person he remembers. She has now spent twelve years in the eighteenth of November, while Thomas has endlessly repeated his identical day. He struggles to reconcile Tara as she is now with the Tara he loves.

And so she rejoins her friends, with whom she finds companionship and understanding. They set off for Val Benoît, where other time-stranded people have created a community built on curiosity, conversation and even optimism. As the eighteenth of November continues to expand, Tara's connection with those around her deepens, and a life beyond Thomas comes unexpectedly into view.

'I was smitten.' Richard Flanagan'Hypnotic . . .a philosophical experiment illuminated by a novelist's sensuous and humane way of looking.' New York Times'A storm of brilliance.' Daisy Johnson'The greatest literary work of the 21st century so far . . .these books will be seen by future scholars as the work which best captured the soul of our times.' The Herald

Series:On the Calculation of Volume
Format:Paperback / softback 224 pages
Publisher:Faber & Faber
Imprint:Faber & Faber
Edition:Main
ISBN:9780571397099
Published:5 Nov 2026
Classifications:Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945), Fiction in translation
Weight:244g