The Nigerian-American author Teju Cole established himself as one of the most extraordinary and inventive writers of his generationwith Every Day Is for the Thief and Open City, which have won the PEN/Hemingway Award and the Internationaler Literaturpreis, among others.

Now he returns with his highly anticipated new novel, Tremor, a powerful, intimate novel that explores what constitutes a meaningful life in a violent world.

Cole weaves a mosaic of literature, music, race, and history to tell the story of Tunde, a West African photographer and lecturer at a university in Massachusetts. One day he goes to an antique shop and finds an African figurine that the shopkeeper calls "authentic". The shop is in a historic house, with a plaque explaining its bloody colonial history.

The incident sparks reflection, as Tunde ponders the Western concept of authenticity, the passage of time, and how atrocities in history relate to the present. Through the eyes of Tunde, and other voices, a surprising and essential story about human survival and the possibility of joy comes to life.