The Sheikh's Detective - Softcover

Arif Alwan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1908509007 ISBN 13: 9781908509000

Publisher: Mira Publishing House, 2012

Synopsis

The Sheikh’s Detective: In the sleepy seaside town of Brighton an Arab Sheikh enlists the help of a local postman, Jeffrey, to search for his long-lost son. This adventure takes both the would-be detective and the Sheikh on their own personal journey, which challenge their perceptions, faiths and misconceptions on life. Jeffrey's traditional lack of compassion and empathy, coupled with Ibrahim's descent into near madness and infidelity provides an extraordinary mix of philosophy, suspense and unpredictability which is sure to take the reader on an exciting journey.

About this title

Review

Arif Alwan raises Hitchensian questions With Kafkaesque answers in his new novel 'The Sheikh's Detective' The Guardian - by F. Fadel In this extraordinary small novel, the author, Arif Alwan, built his two main characters with some sort of conflict between Soul and God. A Muslim Arab wealthy man (the Sheikh), who's visiting Brighton in search of Julian Smith; the detective he hired back home (via the Internet) to find his teenage son, and an English postman who volunteered to help in this issue. Both struggle with their own confused inner lives in a sleepy town that seems only disturbed by the squawks of the seagulls and the waves of tourists on the beach. Nora, the Sheikh's young wife, has her own justifications for making love to a passer-by tourist, in revenge for her ex-lover back home in Tunisia and in revenge for a husband wrapped up in his strange and blasphemous questions. In her view, as he doubts God existence, he is then an infidel who deserves no loyalty. If there is no God, then there can be no right and wrong, and everything therefore becomes permissible. Should this lead to the man becoming a God to himself? The original detective, Julian Smith, who is yet another complex character, provides a Kafkaesque answer to that question when he ends his life in such an unexpected way. The author, from an omniscient viewpoint, pours out the inner thoughts of his characters in torrential monologues. Coupled with his Arab background, Alwan's obvious knowledge of religions gave the novel some factual or historical dimension as he highlights the myths upon which most of the religions were based. In this respect, the author goes very specific and accurate in describing and analysing what happens more than showing us what has happened. The novel provides great deal of understanding for human emotions and conditions, with some very memorable scenes of lovemaking and manslaughter.

About the Author

A. Alwan was born in Iraq in 1941. After completing his education in Baghdad, Alwan left Iraq for good to work as a freelance journalist and researcher. He covered hot topics in Middle East and North Africa over more than 30 years for several newspapers. He lived in Beirut through the Lebanese civil war before moving to Cairo, Morocco, Rome, and London. He finally settled in Leeds in West Yorkshire where he dedicated his life to writing. Alwan's work reflects the notion that there are two sides to truth, yet both are built on illusion. He has written a number of novels, including: Orange Room, Terminus, Pasha of Baghdad, The Lights. And a number of plays, including: Babylon Destruction (1975), The Game of Deluded, The Tartars are Coming, The Prophet (collection of Plays), Lake of Canga (collection of plays), Tartuff, The Crack, Dear London, Noah's Arch. His essays and short-stories appear frequently in Arabic papers such as; Alhayat daily newspaper, Asharq Alawsat Daily Newspaper and, Nizwa Quarterly magazine.

Edition details

• Publisher: Mira Publishing House
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1908509007
• ISBN 13: 9781908509000
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 179