As Though She Were Sleeping

Description

Meelya's dreams are her refuge from events that threaten her or escape her understanding. She leaves her home in Lebanon to live in Nazareth with her Palestinian husband, but Mansour - an older man who fell for her beauty - is frustrated by her spiritual absence. When Mansour's brother's death demands a move to Jaffa - the centre of early tensions between Jewish settlers and displaced Palestinians - Meelya withdraws further into the realm of dreams. Expecting the birth of their son, Mansour can only watch as she cuts loose from the physical world. Over three traumatic nights, past, present and future merge seamlessly into a series of visions that draw the reader towards a conclusion that is powerfully symbolic of the ongoing troubles in the Middle East.

Elias Khoury is the author of thirteen novels, four volumes of literary criticism and three plays. He was editor-in-chief of the cultural supplement of Beirut's daily newspaper, An-Nahar, and is Global Distinguished Professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at New York University.

'Vivid and powerful ... Khoury's new novel provides unusually stimulating pleasure' Guy Mannes-Abbott, Independent. * Independent * 'Khoury provides an insider's view of communities at the confluence of centuries of conflict between region, race and politics' Val Nolan, Irish Examiner. * Irish Examiner * 'An Arab Spring of a very different sort' Tariq Ali, Guardian Books of the Year. * Tariq Ali * 'Mr Khoury's words tumble over the pages in enthralling but sometimes elusive prose. But it is all the more mesmerising for being so' The Economist. * Economist *