He leaves his home, Auror, a village in an unspecified eastern European country, after the sawmill he works at closes down.

Soon after, he travels to London to find work so he can make money to send to his mother, his 5-year-old daughter, Maya, and his best friend.

Lesley McDowell, in a review for The Independent, wrote that Tremain consistently and accurately captured the isolation of Lev and other immigrants.

[1] Liesl Schillinger of The New York Times reviewed the book saying, "A less disciplined and agile author might have been tempted to ease Lev’s transition from daydreamer to doer.

[3] Tremain won an Orange Broadband Prize for the novel, which broadcaster Kirsty Lang praised for its empathy and humour.