In a crumbling apartment building, in the bustling city of Luanda, a microcosm works, laughs, makes plans, falls in love, and tries to make ends meet. Next to the inexhaustible waters that constantly flood the first floor, people of all kinds meet: ministers and laborers, matrons and young girls, war orphans and foreign correspondents, dreamers of other times and cunning tricksters. Among them is the melancholic Odonato, who gradually becomes transparent and weightless in his desperate nostalgia for the city of his youth.

In the background of the story, there is a country struggling with acute economic inequality, shaped by the exploitation of its mineral wealth and the ever-present scars of the long civil war. However, the forefront belongs to the people who, despite facing difficult situations, build their lives with unwavering dignity, playful irony, and unabashed enjoyment of human connection.

A seductive blend of magical realism, biting political satire, tender comedy, and literary experimentation, Ondjaki's novel paints an unparalleled portrait of the urban face of Africa. Ondjaki has the talent to delve deep into the hearts and minds of his characters. Radiating honesty and purity, the author does not let the drama dominate; he subverts and balances it, just as life itself ultimately does.