Middle East Fiction

A selection of letters written home by a private soldier who served in Iraq, Palestine and other parts of the Middle East during the Second World War. Anthony Rawson was born in October 1919 and grew up in the family home in Watford. When war broke out in 1939 he was working as a gas fitter for the Watford and St. Albans Gas Company. He joined the army in June 1940 but because of his poor eyesight he was not classed as a combatant. Instead he became a fitter, later a vehicle mechanic in what was then the Royal Army Ordnance Corps and spent the next 5 years in the Middle East.

A propulsive, high-stakes debut thriller where one extraordinary operator holds the key to saving the world from Armageddon. All he needs to do is stay alive. Buried deep in the US defense and special forces architecture is an elite, ultra-black unit, created expressly to prevent weapons of...

Jerusalem, 1947: Judith, a young Jewish woman who survived Dachau concentration camp, arrives in Palestine after a treacherous journey and seeks refuge with her only remaining relative, her uncle. When Judith learns her uncle has died, she tries to take her own life in despair. In Hadassah Hospital, Hana, an Arab nurse, saves Judith’s life by donating her own blood. A fragile bond of friendship develops between the two women, but it will face a harsh test over time.

One week. Five contestants. One prince. A devastating decision. Before, she avoided elimination. Now, she must win. Chosen as one of the final five in the bride search, Ada has one last chance to find the golden lamp and save her family. Yet with Cyrus no longer her partner-in-crime, but her target, her plans unravel, tearing her between duty and desire. Now she has one week to pass three increasingly difficult tests fit for a queen.

As U.S. troops prepare to withdraw from Afghanistan, and the Taliban is poised to take over, the CIA calls upon the Austrian aristocrat Malko Linge to execute a dangerous and delicate plan to restore stability to the region. On the ground in Kabul, Malko reconnects with an old flame and hires a...

Parvana es una chica afgana que acaba de perder a su padre. Sola, emprende la búsqueda del resto de su familia por un país desolado por la pobreza y la guerra. En su camino encontrará a otros dos niños, Asif y Leila, y a un bebé. La historia de Parvana (protagonista, también, de "El pan de la guerra", alandar 8) ofrece una visión honesta y solidaria de la situación en Afganistán, y del coraje y la esperanza de unos niños que luchan en circunstancias muy difíciles.

Cotton Malone retired from the high-risk world of elite operatives for the U.S. Justice Department to lead the low-key life of a rare-book dealer. But his quiet existence is shattered when he receives an anonymous e-mail: “You have something I want. You’ re the only person on earth who knows...

This audiobook begins with an account of the birth of John and of Jesus, the last representatives of prophecy in the house of Israel. The claim that Jesus is the son of God is firmly denied, as is the assertion of the pagans of Mecca that the angels are God’s daughters. It then mentions the missions of some earlier prophets, showing that only human beings are raised to reform the world. Consisting of 93 verses, this is one of the early Meccan chapters.

A family secret revealed 40 years ago by a grandmother to her grandson is now an acclaimed Russian historical fiction novel. A Hundred Sweet Promises is the tale of the author’s grandfather, Nasrosoltan, a famed composer, who on the eve of World War I travels from Persia to Russia to study classical music at the St. Petersburg Conservatory with such masters as Rimsky-Korsakov.

As a teenager in Palestine, Sami al Jundi had one ambition: overthrowing Israeli occupation. With two friends, he began to build a bomb to use against the police. But when it exploded prematurely, killing one of his friends, al Jundi was caught and sentenced to 10 years in prison. It was in an Israeli jail that his unlikely transformation began. Al Jundi was welcomed into a highly organized, democratic community of political prisoners who required that members of their cell read, engage in political discourse on topics ranging from global revolutions to the precepts of nonviolent protest and revolution.

Saleh Abdoh, the narrator of Out of Mesopotamia, is a middle-aged Iranian journalist who moonlights as a writer for one of Iran's most popular TV shows, but cannot keep himself away from the front lines in neighboring Iraq and Syria. There, the fight against the Islamic State is a proxy war, an existential battle, a declaration of faith, and, for some, a passing weekend affair. After weeks spent dodging RPGs and witnessing acts of savagery and stupidity, he returns to his civilian life of Tehran bookstore readings and trendy art openings, finding it to be unbearably dislocating.

At the dawn of the 20th century, a young Lebanese adventurer leaves the Levant to explore the wilds of Africa, encountering an eccentric English colonel in Sudan and enlisting in his service. In this lush chronicle of far-flung adventure, the military recruit crosses paths with a compatriot who has dismantled a sumptuous palace in Tripoli and is transporting it across the continent on a camel caravan.

In this audiobook, master storyteller Jim Weiss introduces young listeners to some of the most fascinating people and events of the Middle Ages. Attila the Hun makes an empire shake with fear. Sir William Marshall outfights every opponent - yet shows mercy even to his enemies. Hildegard of Bingen writes beautiful music - and writes advice letters to kings and queens! Muhammad changes the map of the world, and inspires a faith that guides millions of people. Eleanor of Aquitaine fights for power in a world ruled by men. Moses Maimonides heals illnesses of the body and the spirit.

Fifteen-year-old Charlotte is restlessly coming of age in early twentieth-century Basra, Iraq. The daughter of a Seattle doctor and missionary, Charlotte craves an adventure of her own making. Just the thought of the steppes, hills, valleys, and the winding river stirs Charlotte’s imagination and sends her compass of flight dancing. So, preferring the wondrous unknown to solicitude, Charlotte packs up copies of her father’s Gospels and a statue of the Baby Jesus and runs away.

A best-selling book when it appeared in Arabic, The Others is a literary tour de force, offering a window into one of the most repressive societies in the world. Seba al-Herz tells the story of a nameless teenager at a girls' school in the heavily Shi'ite Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Like her classmates, she has no contact with men outside her family. When the glamorous Dai tries to seduce her, her feelings of guilt are overcome by an overwhelming desire for sexual and emotional intimacy.

Hayden Hawkins made a deathbed promise to his brother, Ian: Hayden would watch over Ian's son, Nick, and the boy's mother, Ronni. Despite Hayden's initial feelings for Ronni, everything changed when she captured - then broke - Ian's heart. Hayden's avoided her since. Now, Nick's in trouble and needs Hayden's guidance. It's time to keep his promise. But getting close to Ronni stirs up old emotions, not all of them good. Then there's the new chemistry they're both feeling.

This “smart, thought-provoking, rising crescendo of suspense” (The Real Book Spy) pits the intelligence of one man against one of the most successful spies ever to operate against American interests. When a young Israeli walks into an American embassy and offers to betray his country for...

Three years have passed, and Ally's memories of her kidnapping and torture still haunt her. Determined to keep her demons at bay, David refuses to leave her side. Until....the lies woven to protect come unraveled. Ally has no choice but to return to the land that once imprisoned her.

From “a marvelous new voice” (Rebecca Makkai), these “extraordinarily imaginative” (Sigrid Nunez), “revelatory” (Nicole Krauss), “superb” (Kiran Desai) stories transcend borders as they render the intimate lives of people striving for connection. WINNER OF THE AJL JEWISH...

The summer of 1990 started out fine. Reem was about to enter his Junior year, and the architectural degree would put him on track to achieve his 5-year plan. Life in California was different from his childhood as the second son of a Kuwaiti millionaire. He loved USC. August 2, 1990, everything changed. Reem had worked hard to hide his wealth. He just wanted to be a regular college kid. Finding a girlfriend wasn't part of the plan, but he adored Sarah. She wasn't what his mother would have wanted for him, but then in an instant, none of that mattered.