Flights

Flights is a fragmentary novel, structured as a series of vignettes set between the 17th and 21st centuries. Some are fictional and some are based on fact, among them the Dutch anatomist Philip Verheyen’s study of the Achilles tendon and the journey of Ludwika Jędrzejewicz, who carried the heart of her brother, the composer Frédéric Chopin, back to Warsaw. The book has been described as a philosophical rumination on modern-day travel.

Its Polish title, Bieguni, refers to a sect of Old Believers who hold that constant motion is a way to avoid evil. First published in Polish in 2007, it was translated into English by Jennifer Croft.