From the thousands of fiction titles released in English in 2015 from around the world, Toronto Star reviewers have placed Nino Ricci’s Sleep in the year’s Top 5, along with Giller-shortlisted Martin John by fellow Canadian Anakana Schofield, the internationally acclaimed Story of the Lost Child by Italian phenomenon Elena Ferrante, the runaway bestseller The Girl on the Train by British author Paula Hawkins, and U.S. author Kelly Link’s stunning story collection Get in Trouble.

“Sleep was unaccountably overlooked this literary prize season, despite being Ricci’s best work yet,” writes one of the Star reviewers. Writes another, “If endemic narcissism is one of the central pathologies of contemporary culture, then Ricci has crafted with Sleep one of its holy texts.”

Ricci, contacted at the rehab centre where he is currently at work on a new novel, said that making the list came as a bit of a surprise. “Because frankly the review the Star gave me when the book first came out actually kind of sucked.”