Description
“An heir to E.M. Forster's vision . . . Stretching from the ancient Persian Empire to the waning days of the British Empire, the novel has an enormous wingspan that catches a wonderful storyteller's wind . . . beautifully composed, and often terribly moving.” ―Alan Cheuse, All Things Considered, NPR “I can't recommend A God in Every Stone by Kamila Shamsie too strongly--this is her best novel yet, which is high praise to give to the author of Burnt Shadows . . . Exciting and, in the end, profoundly moving, this will solace you during the grimmest holiday” ―Antonia Fraser, "Summer Reading", The Guardian “A literary delight.” ―Jeanette Winterson, "Summer Reading", The Guardian “It is a rare writer who can transport her readers in just a few pages to another place and time. Shamsie's writing is so evocative that she does just that . . . complex and spell-binding.” ― The Independent on Sunday “Evokes the past beautifully . . . a moving story of love and betrayal, generosity and brutality, hope and injustice, full of characters that stay with you . . . A God in Every Stone will surely confirm Shamsie's increasing eminence in the British world of letters” ― Financial Times “A fast-moving, well-researched story that reminds us of the contradictions of Empire in the age of the first worldwide war . . . A God in Every Stone is a valuable reminder that the legacy of the Great War stretched far beyond Versailles.” ― The Sunday Times “First-rate--intelligent, vivid and completely absorbing.” ― The Daily Mail “A sensual treasury of descriptive ornamentation.” ― The Times “The voices of those silenced from the pages of history resound in Kamila Shamsie's accomplished, atmospheric sixth novel . . . Shamsie excavates the deepest corners of the human heart, leaving few stones unturned in this exploration of how human motivation can shape history.” ― The Observer --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. Kamila Shamsie is the author of several novels: In the City by the Sea ; Kartography (both shortlisted for the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize); Salt and Saffron ; Broken Verses and Burnt Shadows which was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction and has been translated into more than twenty languages . Three of her novels have received awards from Pakistan's Academy of Letters . She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and in 2013 was named a Granta's Best of Young British Novelist. She grew up in Karachi and now lives in London. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
Features & Highlights
- A God in Every Stone is a kaleidoscopic masterpiece of empire and rebellion by a storyteller of dizzying ambition and talent.Opening on the eve of the First World War in the Ottoman Empire in Turkey, the novel ends with a bloody massacre in the heart of the British Empire in India. And running through it, like a secret river, is the story of an ancient lost treasure, a silver circlet, given to the explorer Scylax by the Persian King.Vivian Rose Spencer is fascinated by the history of ancient empires, and in the summer of 1914 she finds herself fulfilling a dream by joining an archeological dig in Turkey. It is here alongside young Germans and Turks that the young English woman will fall in love with an old family friend, the distinguished archeologist, Tahsin Bey. As she begins to see the world through his eyes, she also shares his obsession with finding Scylax’s lost silver circlet.As her idyllic summer comes to an end with the outbreak of war in Europe, her friends will become her nation’s enemies and her loyalties will be tested.Months later, in the battlefields of Europe, Indian soldiers are fighting for the British Empire. At Ypres one Qayyum Gul, a Lance Corporal from Peshawar, will lose an eye, and find himself recuperating in a Royal Pavilion in England. Surrounded by the glories of empire he will slowly begin to doubt his loyalties to the British King. Returning to Peshawar, Qayyum Gul will share a train carriage with Vivian Rose Spencer who is on her way to his hometown in response to a mysterious message from Tahsin Bey. As she searches for the silver circlet, he searches for a new leader to believe in. Fifteen years later, they will meet again and their loyalties will be tested once more amidst massacres, cover-ups, and the disappearance of a young man they both love.With A God in Every Stone, Kamila Shamsie, one of Granta’s “Best of Young British Novelists” and the Orange Prize shortlisted author of Burnt Shadows, establishes herself as a major international voice whose storytelling sheds light on our own complex times.
