A sailor "lived alone, he had no family, no friends. He drank coffee hot and without sugar, took a big smoke from his cigarette, and watching the curls of smoke, he decided to go to the pub by the river after breakfast, since it was his birthday after all. He loved pub crawls. But he didn't go there for the alcohol, but for the conversations. He mainly liked to tell stories; about distant continents, islands, long journeys, the rough sea, special encounters..."

A sailor hangs out in the pub - he's never been to sea, yet he's traveled halfway around the world. His spirit joins forces with old painters, kayán singers, self-flagellating writers-poets, mad scientists, car racers and explorers who know no danger... This strange and wide-ranging relationship spans centuries, which weaves an invisible, yet real web between the characters of the book. This is how the greats of cultural history, such as the titular Leonardo da Vinci, the Russian Tsarina Catherine I, the Swiss writer Robert Walser, the American singer Bessie Smith or the Polish-Jewish-Argentinian chess grandmaster Miguel Najdorf, can come into spiritual contact with each other - and even fall in love. On the pages of Károly Zalai's novel, the wandering geniuses of humanity, fueled and driven by the desire for knowledge and the reason for existence, march on. Real persons in the imagination - or reality? - in his dazzling realm! And what makes this vibrant mystical relationship between them? No other reason than that - just like Sailor - they were all born on April 15...

"For a long time I have been looking for the place from which, according to my faith, I can clearly see the world around me. I have turned around here and there on this globe, but during the years that passed quickly I became more and more certain that this much-desired place is not outside, but inside me; and I can get here mostly with the help of writing. But I have to tell you that I finally came across the characters and the location of this novel through an accidentally discovered date, where so much happened that I could hardly keep track of it. Fortunately, while I was writing, quite a few friends popped up next to me, who helped me a lot with their thoughts so that I could provide accurate information about the events that took place at this mysterious location. I hereby thank them!" (Károly Zalai)