The Dove's Necklace - Hardcover

Alem, Raja

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0715651757 ISBN 13: 9780715651759

Publisher: Overlook Press, 2017

Synopsis

Mu'az, the photographer's apprentice, was leaping between two roofs when he froze in mid-air, transfixed by what he saw below. Deep in the cleft between the two houses was the body.In Mecca's 'Lane of Many Heads' lies the unclothed body of a murdered woman. Nobody claims the victim: her nudity is a source of shame in the Holy City's strictly conservative culture. When the cholesterol-riddled and sleep-deprived detective Nasser al-Qahtani takes charge of the investigation, he is soon confronted by some of Mecca's darkest secrets by its corruption, poverty, misogyny and rampant greed. Never once shying away from taboos, Raja Alem effortlessly intertwines myth, fantasy and everyday reality to evoke the rich mosaic of Meccan life to tell the story of a civilisation torn between dogmatic conservatism and the desire to modernise. Narrated by several different voices including two headstrong women and the 'Lane of Many Heads' itself The Dove's Necklace is a beautiful, powerful novel which challenges false preconceptions of the Arab world, and conjures up a compelling portrait of a city and its people

About this title

About the Author

Raja Alem is a writer of fiction, drama, biography, and criticism. She was born in Mecca and now lives in Paris.

Edition details

• Publisher: Overlook Press
• Publication date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0715651757
• ISBN 13: 9780715651759
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 480