'Richly inventive and deliciously smart . . . A joy from start to finish. I loved it' Rachel Joyce

Some marriages shouldn't be left to Fate.

In 1972, on an island in the Indian Ocean, two babies are born. Lila and Kuno are born at the same time and in the same place, Lila’s mother’s pregnancy only a few months old, Kuno’s mother overdue by more than a year. But these births are destined to happen together and these children are destined to marry. Whether they like it or not.

So begins the raucous story of two families, one country, and one too many prophesies.

Set over decades of political turmoil, in a place where where crocodile kings, nuns with guns, and enchanted pianos are woven into the fabric of everyday married life, A Long Ballad of a Short Marriage is the story of how fate and prophecy twist their way through the lives of these families and the country they call home.