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WINNER OF THE NAGUIB MAHFOUZ MEDAL FOR LITERATURE
SHORTLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL PRIZE FOR ARABIC FICTION
ONE OF THE 50 MOST IMPORTANT ARABIC NOVELS OF THE 21ST CENTURY (THE NATIONAL)
"Exquisitely lyrical language."—Financial Times
An epic of love and revenge in a time of war and slavery
At the close of the nineteenth century, freed slave Bakhit is let out of prison with the overthrow of the Mahdist state in Sudan. On the brink of death, the memory of his beloved Theodora is all that has sustained him through seven years of grim incarceration—that and his vow to avenge her killing.
Set against a backdrop of war, religious fervor, and the monumental social and political upheavals of the time, The Longing of the Dervish is a love story in the most unlikely of circumstances.
Lyrical and evocative, Hammour Ziada’s masterfully crafted novel is about sorrow, hope, and the cruelty of fate.
"Neither starry-eyed nor cynical, Ziada constructs, in exquisitely lyrical language, the story of Bakheet's love for the white woman who finds solace in his company but cannot imagine marrying a slave. A rich and sensitive novel, Longing of the Dervish reflects on tolerance, prejudice and freedom in ways that transcend its historic setting."—Financial Times
"Explores a seminal moment in the region's history"—The Guardian