The book tells the story of Ariel Manto, a PhD student who has been researching the 19th century writer Thomas Lumas.

Central to Lumas' book is the "Troposphere" – a place where all consciousness is connected and you can enter other people's minds and read their thoughts.

[1] As have Janette Turner Hospital and Andrew Crumey, the writer explores the relationships between quantum physics and post-modernist and deconstructionist theory.

The description of the Troposphere has been compared to the novels of Neal Stephenson and William Gibson, and shares similarities to The Matrix.

[2] It was long-listed for the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2008,[3] sold 150,000 copies, and won a Nibbie award for best cover.