The Books of Jacob is full of intriguing characters. Count Antoni Kossakowski (known by one of his many masks, Moliwda) personifies intrigue, even if his plots destroy him. And through Moliwda, in chapter 10 of the Slow Read Rerun, you will learn about the European enchantment with the Classical world.

“The flight of his lover, the sea, and this memory from his childhood make Moliwda feel frighteningly lonely. His only relief will come, not too long from now, from the Wallachian Bogomils… And all this has happened because Moliwda is fully convinced by now that his life has reached its natural conclusion, and that there won’t be any other world.”

—Olga Tokarczuk