A mesmerizing tale from Portugals most acclaimed young novelist. Set in an unnamed Portuguese village, against a backdrop of severe poverty, The Implacable Order of Things follows two generations of men and women as they struggle with love, jealousy, violence, loss, and—most of all—the inescapability of fate. With subtle prose and powerful imagery, José Luís Peixoto delicately weaves together the stories of his oddball cast-including a pair of twins conjoined at the pinky, a supercentenarian, a shepherd turned cuckold by a giant, and even the Devil himself.