Böcker av Radwa Ashour

A "rich and evocative" (Booklist) multigenerational epic set at the collapse of Muslim rule in Medieval Spain, available now for the first time in a new, complete translation It is 1492, and the keys to Granada, the last Muslim state in the Spanish Peninsula, have been handed over to the Christian king and queen: the final vestiges of Islamic rule in Europe are swept away. As the triumphant new masters of Granada burn books, Abu Jaafar, a bookseller by trade, quietly moves his rich library out of town. The tangled lives of Abu Jaafar's family, his descendants, and his community bear witness to the vanquishing of Muslim and Jewish life: confiscations, forced conversions, and expulsions. Radwa Ashour's sweeping trilogy, set over one hundred years against the backdrop of the great historical events of sixteenth-century Europe, tells the story of those who remained in Andalusia, of the individuals who struggled to maintain faith and hope in a possible future. It narrates a community's effort to comprehend what has happened to them, of their valiant but ultimately unsuccessful efforts to resist the destruction of their identity. Named a top literary work of the twentieth century by the Arab Writers' Union, Granada is now available in English in its entirety for the first time. All three novels--Granada, Maryama and The Departure--are brilliantly retranslated in this outstanding new paperback edition.

Palestine. For most of us, the word brings to mind a series of confused images and disjointed associations-massacres, refugee camps, UN resolutions, settlements, terrorist attacks, war, occupation, checkered kuffiyehs and suicide bombers, a seemingly endless cycle of death and destruction. This novel does not shy away from such painful images, but it is first and foremost a powerful human story, following the life of a young girl from her days in the village of al-Tantoura in Palestine up to the dawn of the new century. We participate in events as they unfold, seeing them through the uneducated but sharply intelligent mind of Ruqayya, as she tries to make sense of all that has happened to her and her family. With her, we live her love of her land and of her people; we feel the repeated pain of loss, of diaspora, and of cross-generational misunderstanding; and above all, we come to know her indomitable human spirit. As we read we discover that we have become part of Ruqayya's family, and her voice will remain with us long after we have closed the book.

A novel of life in the mixed culture that existed in Southern Spain before the expulsion of Arabs and Jews, following the life of Abu Jaafar, the bookbinder, and his family as they witness Christopher Columbus' triumphant parade through the streets.

Amina, a baker in sultan's palace, awaits her son's return from a voyage at sea, fearful that the sea has claimed Said. Said begins to make his way home witnessing British colonial oppression along the way. When Said returns and learns the island's slave population is planning a revolt against sultan's tyrannical rule, he and Amina are drawn in.