Author(s): Colum McCann

Modern & Contemporary Literature | Grant - Bookshelf favourites

A powerful novel about the shared grief of a Palestinan and an Israeli.

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE PRIX FEMINA AND THE PRIX MEDICIS. WINNER OF THE PRIX DU MEILLEUR LIVRES ETRANGER. CHOSEN AS A BOOK OF 2020 BY THE SUNDAY TIMES, OBSERVER, GUARDIAN, i PAPER, FINANCIAL TIMES, NEW STATESMAN, SCOTSMAN, IRISH TIMES, BBC.COM, WATERSTONES.COM. 

How do we continue living once we have lost our reason to live? Rami and Bassam live in the city of Jerusalem - but exist worlds apart, divided by an age-old conflict. And yet they have one thing in common. Both are fathers; both are fathers of daughters - and both daughters are now lost.

When Rami and Bassam meet, and tell one another the story of their grief, the most unexpected thing of all happens: they become best of friends. And their stories become one story, a story with the power to heal - and the power to change the world.

'The book goes anywhere and everywhere. It is a delirious and thrilling improvisation, a jazz solo spun out of that meeting ... A spectacular structure of stories about everything' - Bryan Appleyard, Sunday Times

* BLB Bookclub Favourite 2020