As one of the most profound and insightful scholars of the Middle East, Fouad Ajami’s sensibility was powerfully shaped by his childhood and youth in Lebanon in the ’50s and ’60s. The time was a transitional one—not only for the Middle East, but for America and the world. Lebanon in this era was just coming into its own as a cosmopolitan destination of the international jet set as well as earnest American educators seeking to modernize Arab society. The disruptive forces of the Middle East...

Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Naguib Mahfouz, offers this epic story of a single alley in Cairo and the generations that passed through it.A tumultuous neighbourhood known as 'the alley' has seen successive heroes rise and fall as they struggle to defend the rights left to them by their great ancestor, Gebelawi.From the supreme feudal lord who disowns one son for pride and puts another to the test, to the saviour who tries to free his people fro...

Yalo propels us into a skewed universe of brutal misunderstanding, of love and alienation, of self-discovery and luminous transcendence. At the center of the vortex stands Yalo, a young man drifting between worlds like a stray dog on the streets of Beirut during the Lebanese civil war. Living with his mother who "lost her face in the mirror," he falls in with a dangerous circle whose violent escapades he treats as a game. The game becomes a horrifying reality, however, when Yalo is accused...

From the author of The Arab Predicament and Dream Palace of the Arabs comes a beautiful and haunting memoir of growing up in Lebanon in the ’50s and ’60s—the story of a sensitive young man and budding intellectual caught between tradition and modernity, east and west.As one of the most profound and insightful scholars of the Middle East, Fouad Ajami’s sensibility was powerfully shaped by his childhood and youth in Lebanon in the ’50s and ’60s. The...

Seen through the eyes of a strong-willed and perceptive young girl, Naphtalene beautifully captures the atmosphere of Baghdad in the 1940s and 1950s. Through her rich and lyrical descriptions, Alia Mamdouh vividly recreates a city of public steam baths, roadside butchers, and childhood games played in the same streets where political demonstrations against British colonialism are beginning to take place.At the heart of the novel is nine-year-old Huda, a gi...

A young bride in a village in India obediently marries the man her parents have chosen for her. When she arrives in her new husband's village, she is soon face-to-face with what her future will look like. Her brother-in-law stares at her with hunger, an elder aunt berates her and allows her no joy, and her husband has a job in the far-away city of Bombay.What she doesn't know yet, however, is that she has a gift. A gift that will help her navigate this new life with ease and power....

Step into a world of sophistication and glamour, where sinfully seductive heroes await you in luxurious international locations.The Sheikh’s wedding night…without the wedding…Angele has longed for her betrothal to Crown Prince Zahir to be consummated within wedlock. She naively hoped her promised husband would wait for her, as she would him – but compromising paparazzi photos have dashed those youthful dreams…She cannot become Zahir...

Murder is never clear-cut...From the New York Times No. 1 bestselling author Jonathan Kellerman, The Butcher's Theatre is a thriller filled with tension and terror. Perfect for fans of Michael Connelly and Harlan Coben.'A psychopathological blockbuster' - ObserverIn the '60s Jerusalem was dubbed 'The Butcher's Theatre'. Decades later and the City of Peace is about to regain that title. The corpse of a youn...

This international bestseller is a "horrifying inside look at the lives of Libyan women under the Gaddafi regime . . . Powerful and compelling" ( Booklist, starred review).Soraya was just fifteen, a schoolgirl in the coastal town of Sirte, when she was given the honor of presenting a bouquet of flowers to Colonel Gaddafi, "the Guide," on a visit he was making to her school the following week. This one meeting—a presentation of flowers, a pat on the head fr...

August Book Sense PickA fading aristocrat and self-proclaimed 'scientist of women.' A purring, voluptuous siren. A young shop-girl enduring the clammy touch of her boss and hating herself for accepting the modest banknotes he tucks into her pocket afterward. An earnest, devout young doorman, feeling the irresistible pull toward fundamentalism. A cynical, secretly gay newspaper editor, helplessly in love with a peasant security guard. A roof-squatting tailor, schemi...

A fascinating book that travels effortlessly from biblical times to tomorrow, with stops in Israel, Europe, Africa, and the Diamond Dealers’ Club on New York City’s 47th Street.As Nebuchadnezzar's hordes approach Jerusalem, sacred objects are hidden—the Tablets of Law, the Ark and its cover, the golden cherubim, and the breastplate of the High Priest, bearing twelve precious stones, one from each tribe. The stone from the tribe of Zebulon is a great yellow diamond....

With an attraction this hot, someone is bound to get burned…Adilah Tazeem, twin sister to Sheikh Hussain, has always been the impulsive one in her royal family. With a successful baking business, she can’t wait to host an upcoming culinary conference and show the world her city. But when death threats keep coming, she turns to the one man she can always count on to protect her.Head of security Kalik, with his enormous strength and unwavering dedication, has captured her hea...