The novel opens in 2019 at a photography retrospective in Brussels. Three long-separated friends—Keto, Nene, and Ira—meet to honor the work of the fourth in their group, Dina, a brilliant war photographer who is now dead. As they walk through the gallery, Dina's images transport them back to their childhood in an "Italian courtyard" in Tbilisi , Georgia, during the late 1980s.

Haratischwili weaves together the distinct personalities of four girls navigating a world of sudden violence and scarcity:

In (English title: The Lack of Light ), Nino Haratischwili delivers a sweeping, 720-page epic that captures the raw intensity of friendship against the backdrop of a nation’s collapse. This is a must-read for fans of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels who are looking for a gritty, post-Soviet perspective . The Story: A Reunion in Brussels