I am at a loss as to how to characterize this book. It's not horror. It's not fairy tale. It is solidly lit fic, but, somehow, it is all of them. The only way I can conceive to adequately capture its essence is as a mystery characterized by an excursion into existential angst, threaded through with epistemological metaphor, and gilded with dreamlike epiphany. Yet, at the same time, it is not a difficult read. Throughout one is driven by the need to discover the fate of the stranger, yet, must navigate the intertwined stories, which serve as analogies for the experiences of the characters, tied together into a coherent whole. The writing is impeccable and the descriptions enviable. That more people have not read this book is truly a shame.