The King

Description

Once upon a time there was a Persian prince. The prince had many brothers, for his father had married over a thousand wives, but Prince Naser alone stood to inherit the kingdom. As the prince ascends to the throne we lurk in his shadow to overhear the whispered intrigues and plotting of bloody battles. The weight of the nation bears heavily on Shah Naser's shoulders. Will this young king triumph or will he succumb to the forces that threaten to engulf him? Enter the court of the King of Persia . . .

Kader Abdolah (a pen name created in memoriam to friends who died under persecution by the current Iranian regime) was born in Iran in 1954. While a student of physics in Tehran, he joined a secret leftist party that fought against the dictatorship of the shah and the subsequent dictatorship of the ayatollahs. Abdolah wrote for an illegal journal and clandestinely published two books in Iran. In 1988, he arrived in the Netherlands as a political refugee. Kader Abdolah is the author of several books, including the novels My Father's Notebook and The House of the Mosque. He has received several awards, including the Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres decoration in 2008. Nancy Forest-Flier is an American-born translator who has made her home in the Netherlands with her husband, the writer Jim Forest.

* The King is utterly fabulous in both senses of the word: a sly, witty, knowing fable, full of charm and humour. Deceptively simple in its storytelling, it reads like one of Angela Carter's fairy tales transposed into the nineteenth-century Qajar Persian court. Kader Abdolah is a masterful and completely addictive storyteller -- WILLIAM DALRYMPLE * A strong and colourful story illuminating the complex forces that have shaped contemporary Iran Metro * Glorious The Times * Set in the last half of the 19th century, The King is a biography of brutality and ambition; all of its characters strive to shape their own lives as well as the destiny of their evolving nation New York Times * Told in a simple yet gripping style based on the great epic history of early Persia, the 'Shahnameh' written by Firdawsi about a thousand years ago. It proves a very effective model for this dramatic tale of a later ruler and his heroic, if often brutal, battles. As in the 'Shahnameh', lyrical passages celebrating Persia break up the harsh history Independent * Abdolah brings a crucial moment in 19th-century Persian history to vivid life Independent * The King probes questions of power and authority through wry fable - Salman Rushdie's Shame meets Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall ... the story is rich with subtle touches ... in the grand tradition of Persian literary satire, the writing is playful, subversive, and compassionate ... resplendent Financial Times * Excellent ... accessible and deceptively light Scotsman * A modern epic Independent * A very detailed and well-researched historical account Guardian