States of Passion
A tale of family secrets and lost passions
Nihad Sirees author Max Weiss translator
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Pushkin Press
Published:6th Sep '18
Should be back in stock very soon
A bureaucrat's stormy refuge leads him to uncover family secrets in States of Passion, revealing a rich tapestry of love, loss, and history.
In States of Passion, a hapless bureaucrat from Aleppo finds himself stranded in the countryside during a violent storm. Seeking shelter in an isolated mansion, he encounters an elderly gentleman and his enigmatic servant. This chance meeting unfolds into a journey of discovery, revealing a tapestry of family secrets, lost loves, and shadowy dealings that have shaped generations. As the storm rages outside, the stories shared within the mansion transport him to Aleppo's golden age, a vibrant era filled with art, music, and laughter.
The narrative vividly portrays the all-female society of the banat al-ishreh, where women come together to live, love, and express themselves through song and dance. Through these enchanting tales, the protagonist begins to understand the intricate connections between love, passion, cruelty, and the lingering resentments that echo through time. As he delves deeper into the lives of those who came before him, he realizes that the past is not just a distant memory but a force that influences his own fate.
States of Passion is a masterful exploration of the conflict between past and present, blending humor and warmth with a poignant examination of a lost world. Sirees crafts a narrative that is both captivating and thought-provoking, inviting readers to reflect on the complexities of family ties and the enduring power of storytelling.
Charming... the old sections set in the world of women are beautifully recreated... takes us back to Aleppo's golden age * Financial Times *
A captivating novel about memory and storytelling, highlighting the rich cultural history of Aleppo * Observer *
Beautifully controlled... This is an absorbing novel that celebrates the art of storytelling... a valuable snapshot of a vanished world * The National *
Engaging and believable, full and rounded... transparent and immersive, poignant * Asymptote Journal *
Vibrant... a nice thread of suspense laced with humour... It's a tale well spun, offering a glimpse of a culture about which I knew nothing * A Life in Books (blog) *
Profound and topical ... a chilling portrait of a people whose lives are dominated by fear -- Lucy Popescu on The Silence and the Roar * Independent on Sunday *
An excellent novel ... while The Silence and the Roar is a slender novel, it is far from slight -- Malcolm Forbes on The Silence and the Roar * The National *
A searing political allegory in the tradition of Orwell and Camus. Sirees's book would be unbearably bleak if it weren't so funny: its narrator's caustic irreverence is his rebellion against the tyrant's roar that would reduce him to silence -- Adam Shatz on The Silence and the Roar
In this short, satiric fable, a formerly famous writer silenced by an authoritarian regime finds himself in a predicament where Kafka meets Catch-22 -- on The Silence and the Roar * Kirkus *
With biting humor Nihad Sirees reveals the extraordinary injustices of ordinary life under the oppressive rule of the Leader. This richly rendered story illuminates the hard reality of the many Middle Eastern states in political transition today -- Shahan Mufti on The Silence and the Roar
This is a small dystopian treasure of Gogolian texture, nightmarish but light, self-referential but never pretentious. Eerie, banal, yet bearing the cold imprint of reality, Sirees's vision of tyranny, superlatively translated, is distinctive enough to be ranked with Orwell, Huxley or Marquez's -- Robin Yassin-Kassab on The Silence and the Roar * Independent *
ISBN: 9781782273479
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
256 pages