Gjergj Vlashis’s novel is set in Durrës, after Fascist Italy’s capitulation, when the German army declares a state of emergency and orders the city’s evac uation under threat of Allied bombardments. The only one who disobeys is Marian Shkoza, an ordinary bachelor who hides in abandoned houses. As he secretly inhabits the lives of others, he gradually loses his own identity, until he finally surrenders to the Germans, who execute him.