From the introduction: On the surface of it, this world is completely ordinary. People live lives, have ups and downs; disaster strikes from time to time. Sometimes infants go missing from nurseries and orphanages. The world is a confusing place, and people are clumsy. You’ll take sugar with your tea, only to realize it’s been switched with salt. You’ll go looking for your runaway dog in the woods, only to be bewildered, as you go in circles, the forest seeming to change around you when you’re not paying attention, leading you ever more astray.