Ryder, a famous pianist, arrives in a provincial town somewhere in central Europe. Its inhabitants adore music and believe they have discovered that those who previously satisfied this passion were imposters. Ryder is received as the savior and in a tremendous concert, for which everyone is preparing, he must lead them back along the path of art and truth. But the pianist will soon discover that much more is expected of a savior than he can give and that the inhabitants of that city hide dark guilt, ancient wounds never closed, and also insatiable demands. "The inconsolables" is an unclassifiable, enigmatic work, of a fascinating way, full of small narrations that go into the maze of the main narration, in a dreamlike and naturalistic writing at the same time, and tell a story of wars from the past, exiles and cruelties, impossible relationships between parents and children, husbands and wives, cities and artists. A work that has evoked Musil's "Man without attributes".