When Baroness Valtraute von Bruegen's officer husband's body is severed in two she is delighted to find that the lower half has been sewn onto the upper body of the humble local captain Ulste. She conceives a child only to see the return of her husband in one piece. A beautifully written surrealist novel cum political allegory, Flesh-Coloured Dominoes transports the reader between 18th century Baltic gentry and the narrator's life in the modern world. The connection between the two narratives gradually becomes clear in a mesmerizing fantasy of love, lust, and loss. Born in Riga, Latvia, in 1926, Zigmunds Skujins is one of the most renowned Latvian writers of the late 20th century, receiving numerous Latvian and international literature awards. Translated from the Latvian by Kaija Straumanis.

Zigmunds Skujinš (born 1926, Riga) is a renowned and established Latvian author of prose, poetry and drama. His books are among the most widely read and published, many have been adapted for cinema and theatre, and translated into many languages. Skujinš's first short story appeared in 1948, and since then he has published numerous short stories, film scripts, plays, and essays. He is also outspoken on social, political, historical and moral issues, since his interests reach far beyond literature. More than seven million copies of Skujinš's works have been published in various languages. His writings have been collected and published in 10 volumes (the latest in 2011). Skujinš is an Emeritus Member of the Latvian Academy of Sciences. He has also received the Latvian Annual Prize for Literature , and the Latvian Cabinet of Ministers Prize for his lifetime contribution (2007).