The King
- 8 Jan 2015
- 9780857862969
- £12.99
- 448 pp
- 129×198mm
- 16 Jan 2014
- 9780857862983
- £10.39
- 448 pp
In a few words
An extraordinary novel about the making of modern Iran – Kader Abdolah’s The King, already a bestseller in Europe, is now published in English for the first time
In a few words
An extraordinary novel about the making of modern Iran – Kader Abdolah’s THE KING, already a bestseller in Europe, is now published in English for the first time
The King is utterly fabulous in both senses of the word: a sly, witty, knowing fable, full of charm and humour. Deceptively simple in its storytelling, it reads like one of Angela Carter's fairy tales transposed into the nineteenth-century Qajar Persian court. Kader Abdolah is a masterful and completely addictive storyteller
William Dalrymple
A strong and colourful story illuminating the complex forces that have shaped contemporary Iran
The King is utterly fabulous in both senses of the word: a sly, witty, knowing fable, full of charm and humour. Deceptively simple in its storytelling, it reads like one of Angela Carter's fairy tales transposed into the nineteenth-century Qajar Persian court. Kader Abdolah is a masterful and completely addictive storyteller
William Dalrymple
A strong and colourful story illuminating the complex forces that have shaped contemporary Iran
More about
the book
*Longlisted for the 2016 International DUBLIN Literary Award*
Once upon a time there was a Persian prince. The prince had many brothers, for his father had married over a thousand wives, but Prince Naser alone stood to inherit the kingdom.
As the prince ascends to the throne we lurk in his shadow to overhear the whispered intrigues and plotting of bloody battles. The weight of the nation bears heavily on Shah Naser’s shoulders. Will this young king triumph or will he succumb to the forces that threaten to engulf him?
Enter the court of the King of Persia . . .
More about
the book
*Longlisted for the 2016 International DUBLIN Literary Award*
Once upon a time there was a Persian prince. The prince had many brothers, for his father had married over a thousand wives, but Prince Naser alone stood to inherit the kingdom.
As the prince ascends to the throne we lurk in his shadow to overhear the whispered intrigues and plotting of bloody battles. The weight of the nation bears heavily on Shah Naser’s shoulders. Will this young king triumph or will he succumb to the forces that threaten to engulf him?
Enter the court of the King of Persia . . .
Glorious
Set in the last half of the 19th century, The King is a biography of brutality and ambition; all of its characters strive to shape their own lives as well as the destiny of their evolving nation
Told in a simple yet gripping style based on the great epic history of early Persia, the 'Shahnameh' written by Firdawsi about a thousand years ago. It proves a very effective model for this dramatic tale of a later ruler and his heroic, if often brutal, battles. As in the 'Shahnameh', lyrical passages celebrating Persia break up the harsh history
Abdolah brings a crucial moment in 19th-century Persian history to vivid life
Glorious
Set in the last half of the 19th century, The King is a biography of brutality and ambition; all of its characters strive to shape their own lives as well as the destiny of their evolving nation
Told in a simple yet gripping style based on the great epic history of early Persia, the 'Shahnameh' written by Firdawsi about a thousand years ago. It proves a very effective model for this dramatic tale of a later ruler and his heroic, if often brutal, battles. As in the 'Shahnameh', lyrical passages celebrating Persia break up the harsh history
Abdolah brings a crucial moment in 19th-century Persian history to vivid life
