[3] It is structured as a series of vignettes, some fictional, and some based on fact – among them that of the Dutch anatomist Philip Verheyen's study of the achilles tendon, and the story of Ludwika Jędrzejewicz, the sister of the Polish composer Frédéric Chopin, transporting his heart back to Warsaw.

[13] On the November/December 2018 issue of Bookmarks, the book received a (4.0 out of 5) with the critical summary saying, "Those willing to make the effort will find a nonlinear "novel of intuitions as much as ideas, a cacophony of voices and stories... which meander between the profound and the facetious, the mysterious and the ordinary, and whose true register remains one of glorious ambiguity" (Guardian)".

[14] Kirkus Reviews stated that the book was "a welcome introduction to a major author and a pleasure for fans of contemporary European literature.

[17] Parul Sehgal of The New York Times said of Tokarczuk's narrator that she is "coolly evasive in the way of Rachel Cusk’s heroine in the Outline trilogy".

Summarising the decision of the judges' panel, its chair, Lisa Appignanesi, said "we loved the voice of the narrative – it's one that moves from wit and gleeful mischief to real emotional texture and has the ability to create character very quickly, with interesting digression and speculation.