Twelve-year-old Hans Thomas lives alone with his father a man who likes to give his son lessons about life & has a penchant for philosophy Hans Thomas' mother left when he was four (to 'find' herself) & the story begins when father & son set off on a trip to Greece where she now lives to try to persuade her to come home En route in Switzerland Hans Thomas is given a magnifying glass by a dwarf at a petrol station & the next day he finds a tiny book in his bread roll which can only be read with a magnifying glass How did the book come to be there? Why does the dwarf keep showing up? It is all very perplexing & Hans Thomas has enough to cope with with the daunting prospect of seeing his mother Now his journey has turned into an encounter with the unfathomableor does it all have a logical explanation?