At the 'small g', a Zurich bar known for its not exclusively gay clientele, the
lives of a small community are played out one summer. Rickie Markwalder is a des
igner whose lover Petey was brutally murdered. Rickie and his performing dog Lul
u are regulars at the bar, as are vindictive Renate, a seamstress, and her teena
ge apprentice Luisa.
Into their lives comes Teddie, impressionable and beauti
ful, and a catalyst for the series of events that will change everything. Patric
ia Highsmith's final novel is an intricate exploration of love and sexuality, th
e depths of spite and the triumph of human kindness. It is a work that, in the t
radition of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, shows us how bizarre and un
predictable love can be.
