Based on the true story of the theft of Katherine Mansfield's letters. the life of the New Zealand author Katherine Mansfield poses the central question of this exciting new novel by the author of the Green Library. As the tumultuous life of this seminal author of short stories unfolds, the ordinary lives of those around her, and those contemporary characters who are recounting her story, are also examined. Is genius a justification for the chaos and deceit the great writer sows with abandon, and the wreckage it inflicts on the lives of others? What is the value of peace and happiness if they exclude passion and extraordinary accomplishment? thieves is a tour de force, an accessible, compelling, concise achievement in fiction.