Overview

'Nakhjavani's robust debut is a Chaucerian rondo of linked tales, welded into a powerful, ominous whole' - THE TIMES 'A remarkable first novel...The story expands like the overlapping petals of a flower...The language of Nakhjavani's story is as beautiful as the scenes she describes, a litany of names and places, beliefs and deities' - SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY _________________________ A tantalising tale of what befalls nine different individuals travelling the desert route between Mecca and Medina in the middle of the nineteenth century, as they encounter a mysterious saddlebag that changes each of their lives. It seems a perfectly ordinary saddlebag when the Thief steals it from a Pilgrim; but what are its contents, so precious and so powerful that they can wreak death or joy, ruin or salvation? _________________________ ‘Like CATCH 22 and THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS, when you finish reading Bahiyyih Nakhjavani's debut novel, you wonder how on earth she is ever going to be able to follow it up, such is the uniqueness of its form, the precise simplicity of its language and the vaguely unsettling nature of its premise' - BIG ISSUE

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In the desert a Bedouin thief steals a saddlebag; hoping to gain great wealth from it, when pursued and surrounded he jumps, with the bag in his arms, from a high promontory. The thief is shattered on the rocks below but the saddlebag remains intact although certain papers are spilled from it onto the sand. In a first novel of astonishing power and originality the author describes the fate of nine different individuals as they travel the desert route between Medina and Mecca in the mid-19th century. Each one of them encounters and is subtly changed by the saddlebag, which, while it appears quite ordinary, is apparently imbued with the power of life and death - of pain and ecstasy. Inspired by the holy books of major world religions with references to the Bhagvad Gita, the Quaran and the sayings of Buddha and Confusius. This is both a Thriller and a meditation on the ultimate goal of human existence - but don't be put off: it is unputdownable storytelling; at times horrific (tongues are cut out and throats slit with wanton ease) but also inventive and with magically beautiful descriptive passages. The author tells her compelling tale with a humour which gently mocks the extravagant behaviour of these egocentric human beings and yet brings tears to the eyes when the saddlebag works its magic and their spirits are released from mortal bondage. A truly remarkable achievement. (Kirkus UK)

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