A NEW YORK TIMES MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2026
An unforgettable novel of a working dog, Etna, who, after a devastating war, embarks on an odyssey in the hopes of returning home.
'Gorgeous…a sublimely quiet depiction of loneliness and disorientation.' Hernan Diaz, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Trust and In the Distance
Set in a fictional country in the present day, this is a story told through the eyes of an ex-military dog, Etna. After surviving years of a devastating war, Etna decides one night to leave the men he has fought alongside and return home - to the place where he was taken from when he was young, in the thin but persistent hope that if a home exists for him, it might be there.
Thus begins an exhilarating odyssey told through the eyes of a dog as he traverses ruined landscapes and fights to survive in a world that, even in peacetime, proves to be just as precarious. Along the way, he encounters other animals and humans who are attempting to figure out how to start again. What makes a life when there is no home to go back to? How can we begin to trust each other again after such profound loss?
This is a novel about the power of an idea, about never giving up and, ultimately, about finding hope in the most dire of times.
'In this masterful and infinitely moving dog's tale, Yoon shows us what great fiction can do: change the way we see the world by sharing the song of another heart. Destined to be a classic.' Mona Awad, New York Times bestselling author of We Love You, Bunny and Rouge
'This book is stunning. I was with it every second and it will be with me for a long time.' Joan Silber, author of Mercy and Ideas of Heaven
'A wonder of a novel.' Andrew Krivak, author of Like the Appearance of Horses and The Sojourn
About the Author
Paul Yoon is the author of six works of fiction: Etna; Once the Shore, a New York Times Notable Book; Snow Hunters, winner of the Young Lions Fiction Award; The Mountain, an NPR Best Book of the Year; Run Me to Earth, a Time Must-Read Books of 2020 and longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction; and The Hive and the Honey, winner of the 20th Annual Story Prize and longlisted for the Joyce Carol Oates prize.
Industry Reviews
'Gorgeous…a sublimely quiet depiction of loneliness and disorientation.' Hernan Diaz, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Trust and In the Distance
‘In this masterful and infinitely moving dog’s tale, Yoon shows us what great fiction can do: change the way we see the world by sharing the song of another heart. Destined to be a classic.’ Mona Awad, New York Times bestselling author of We Love You, Bunny and Rouge
'This book is stunning. I was with it every second and it will be with me for a long time.' Joan Silber, author of Mercy and Ideas of Heaven
‘A wonder of a novel.’ Andrew Krivak, author of Like the Appearance of Horses and The Sojourn
