Tale of a Certain Orient - Tapa dura

'Set in the bustling multi-ethnic port of Manaus, this lushly lyrical, rich saga tells of a family of Lebanese immigrants torn by long-kept secrets, feuds and eccentricities' Publishers Weekly 'Milton Hatoum's delicate and subtle novel shuns the tangled romances and parlour tricks of magic realism in favour of prose that seeks a deeper understanding of this highly personal history' New York Times Book Review

Emilie, the matriarch, is on her deathbed. Returning to her childhood home to say goodbye, her granddaughter becomes enveloped in memories, as family and friends gather round to tell their own tales, one by one. We hear of how Uncle Hanna first left Lebanon for Brazil early in the twentieth century; of Soraya Angela, the illegitimate deaf-mute child whose short life was blighted by fear and prejudice; of Uncle Emir and his solitary walk that ended at the bottom of a river; of Hakim's wranglings with the Arabic language; of the two unnameable, fiery-tongued brothers; of the German photographer and constant friend Dorner, roaming Manaus with his Hasselblad; and at the centre of it all lies Emilie: loving, interfering, luminous. Flowing like the Amazon through East and West, city and jungle, life and death, TALE OF A CERTAIN ORIENT has all the magnetism and lush beauty of its Brazilian setting.