Nowadays sustained artistic creation under the burden of poverty seems harder to pull off.

Still, perhaps the heat of artistic creation will warm the chilly cockles of the city's more adventurous residents.

Last year the results of sampling at the three caves were published, and our understanding of prehistoric artistic creation was upended.

The novel, simply, offers more opportunities for a reader to understand the world better, including the world of artistic creation.

And, at the end, much more than that: an exploration of the mystery of artistic creation that's marvellously entertaining and deeply touching.