Shafak has written a very cleverly constructed book, in which stories and times run next to each other and into each other. I am sure I didn't only enjoy it so much because she partly situates it in Iraq. I love her for the way she brought Yezidis into the story, and the atrocities of the radical terror group ISIS. One of those books you cannot put down, that gives new knowledge next to entertainment.
This is the story of one lost poem, two great rivers, and three remarkable lives - all connected by a single drop of water.
*****
In the ruins of Nineveh, that ancient city of Mesopotamia, there lies hidden in the sand fragments of a long-forgotten poem, the Epic of Gilgamesh.
In Victorian London, an extraordinary child is born at the edge of the dirt-black Thames. When his brilliant memory earns him a spot as an apprentice at a printing press, the world opens up far beyond the slums and across the seas.
I loved the humor with which Sofka Zinovieff writes about the trauma of the death of her father. Her style is light, often smile provoking, and - even with the subject of grief and death - never in such way that it feels off. The story becomes absurd at times, but somehow you don't doubt it at all. Well written and very enjoyable.
'Funny, sad and beautifully written' Telegraph'I was completely absorbed from the beginning' Mary Portas'A brilliant depiction of a complex sprawling family with a charismatic lovable rogue at its centre. It is both tragic and funny, but ultimately heartwarming' Lily DunnWhat do you do when you're not allowed to attend your father's funeral? This is the question facing Alekos's far-flung children from many marriages when the successful, if controversial, Greek sculptor dies in London. His last wife and now widow is determined that they stay away, but for the first time, all the sisters and brothers meet up and plan to…
Sepetys takes us back to the Spain of Franco, and tells me - who's been in Spain many times and loves the country - even some secrets of the past. A period that has become a taboo. A time when children of the 'enemy' were discriminated against - as they were considered infected with the same 'decease' as their parents. Children abused in orphanages, babies that were taken away from their mothers and adopted into republican families... It was done elsewhere too, but the numbers were so high in Spain. Sepetys spins a beautiful story around the tragedy that mixes reality and fantasy beautifully.
My latest novel, Rahila's Secrets, features something some of my picks for 2025 also have: the base of actual fact and history, mixed with fictional characters and stories:
A hidden lineage. A homeland in flames. A love caught in the crossfire. How far would you run to survive the truth?
Iraq, 2014. Zara Mahmoud has spent years reeling from a shocking discovery: the long-hidden diary of her late grandmother, Rahila, revealing that her family is secretly Jewish. Raised as a Muslim in Iraqi Kurdistan, Zara has struggled to reconcile this dual identity. But when the terrifying rise of ISIS pushes her homeland into violent chaos, her hidden heritage becomes her only lifeline.
Forced to flee the oncoming extremist threat, Zara and her mother make a perilous escape to Israel. Yet, the ancient, bustling streets of Jaffa offer a different kind of danger. Guided by a mysterious black cat and a family tree tangled in decades of silence and trauma, Zara finds herself completely uprooted.
Then she meets Bram—a proud, passionate Israeli immigrant. An intense romance ignites between them, but political clashes, ghosts from the past, and deep-seated secrets threaten to tear them apart. Torn between her Kurdish heart and her Jewish roots, Zara realizes that escaping a war zone was just the beginning. Now, she must survive the volatile clash of narratives in a country that feels entirely foreign.
Written with the visceral realism of a veteran Middle East correspondent, Judit Neurink weaves an extraordinary, spellbinding tale of historical mystery, gripping suspense, and messy romance.
