Shaw’s historical novel recounts legends from Burmese folklore through the translations of a British emissary.

Deep in the ferocious jungles of late-19th-century Burma (present-day Myanmar), a band of British military men are hard at work rooting out the native insurgents still fighting an already-lost war against the European colonizers. When scouts from the British group keep going missing, the men set out in search of answers and soon discover a massive, ancient temple—in the middle of which lies a strange young Burmese man covered in intricate tattoos. The Brits detain the man in the hope of recovering their missing comrades, believing that their translator, Thadeus Masterson, may be able to wring some information from their captive. After failing in this endeavor, they attempt to return the young man to the temple where they found him, but when he leads them back to the location, the temple is nowhere to be found. The British soldiers return to England, bringing the Burmese man with them. Fascinated by the young man’s tattoos, Thadeus sets about interpreting them, soon discovering that each tells of a myth or legend from the very Burmese culture that the Brits have sought to wipe out for profit. A series of 72 poem-like narratives follow that come together to weave an intricate tapestry of folklore. Shaw’s debut novel is richly imagined, and while popular culture is rife with stories in which tattoos provide clues to people’s personal history, this narrative manages to feel fresh. Some readers may blanch at the work’s structure—it’s something like a mashup of a novel, a monograph, and a poetry collection—but those intimidated by the unusual format will miss out on a unique reading experience. The poems work best when they’re ominous (“Like a beast he takes the bait: / His footsteps are growing louder. // One after another, / their sound increases, / And one before the other / They slow unto a halt”), evoking legends and histories lost to colonization.

A one-of-a-kind novel that readers will remember long after the final page.