Author:Jean Sasson
Mayada was born into a powerful Iraqi family. One grandfather fought alongside Lawrence of Arabia. The other is acclaimed as the first true Arab nationalist. Her uncle was Prime Minister for nearly forty years, her mother an important politician. When Saddam Hussein and his Ba'ath party seized power, and instituted his reign of terror, Mayada found herself alone in Baghdad, a divorced parent of two children, earning a meagre living printing brochures. Until one morning in August 1999 she was summarily arrested and dragged to the notorious Baladiyat Prison, falsely accused of printing anti-government propaganda.
There she was thrown into a cell with 17 'shadow women'. Like latter-day Sherezades, these women passed their days, while waiting for the next interrogation and torture session, telling each other their stories. They were eager to hear Mayada's stories of her privileged former life, of the history of her proud family, of kings and queens, of meetings with Saddam himself.
Not only the story of a woman intimately connected to Iraq's cultured, ancient history, this book is a powerful witness to the terror and horror wrought by Saddam on the lives and souls of its ordinary citizens.
A captivating book.
—— Daily ExpressAn astonishing read.
—— Woman's OwnAn everyday tale of scientific genius, of fiercely competitive boffins trying to publish before each other, of arrogant intelligence and dazzling science. As a primer for work in fundamental physics of the last half-century, it is a brilliant achievement: Johnson writes with assurance, lucidity and charm.
—— Financial TimesIt has such a hopeful message. Even though he's telling stories of the dead, it's really about living your life better and inspiring people to not have unfinished business.
—— Jennifer Love HewittHe helps a lot of people. He really is a healer. I think he's basically on this earth right now at this time and place to heal. He is the real thing. I can't tell you how many times he's been right with me.
—— Shirley MacLaine"This book is a manual for life, read it now, so later you won't have to stand in line and tell Aunt Dumb Dumb you're sorry.
—— Chelsea Handler, Host of Chelsea Lately and author of Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, ChelseaA romp of a read ... John Gray is a connoisseur of human idiocy
—— John Banville , GuardianOur sharpest critic of utopian fantasies skewers the crazed but enduring dream of cheating age, time and death
—— Boyd Tonkin , IndependentJohn Gray, the counter-prophet who scorns all claims that humans can transcend the human condition ... You don't have to agree with Gray to enjoy the fireworks
—— Marek Kohn , IndependentElegant ... He is on to something important regarding the delusion that science consists of indefinite progress
—— Sunday TelegraphGray is an engaging writer, an entertaining historian and a controversialist whose opinions can never be taken for granted
—— New StatesmanYou will come across...a fresh eye, and a clear perspective, in Sadakat Kadri's new book, Heaven on Earth. Learned, level-headed, engaging, Kadri's "journey through Shari'a law" deserves praise on every front
—— IndependentThis is an extremely valuable book...Knowing this stuff is important, and Kadri takes us through it wonderfully well. He has a great grasp of the facts and – this is my favourite thing – a good, dry sense of humour
—— Nick Lezzard , GuardianSuperb… So much discussion of sharia is marred by misinformation and paranoia: this level-headed book provides a timely corrective
—— David Evans , Independent on SundayHe describes both landscapes and humans in sharp poetic detail and provides a deceptively simple account of both the inner and outer journey.
—— The WeekIn an elegiac mood and powerful prose. Thubron considers the significance of his journey, the poetry and politics of the region, and the bleak landscapes that reflect solitude
—— SagaAn utterly absorbing read... An elegiac meditation on life, death, family and mortality. Beautiful
—— WanderlustThubron is an impressive prose stylist..he writes with great elegiac precision
—— Times Literary SupplementIt's a pleasure to follow Colin Thubron's hesitant pilgrimage ... the last of the great post-war British travel writers
—— Waterstone's Books QuarterlyAmid the desolation there is a beauty that comes not only from the things that Thubron chooses to describe but from the way in which he describes them
—— TabletWhat Thubron provides in his inimitable way is an account of both fellow pilgrimsand himself
—— GeographicalWonderfully poetic tale
—— CompassColin Thurbron's ode to a mystical mountain in Tibet... Not to be missed
—— Daily TelegraphThis latest travelogue confirms Colin Thubron as one of the greatest contemporary travel writers
—— Time OutI am haunted by its spare simplicity and beauty
—— Simon Winchester , Daily Telegraph, summer readingHis measures prose matches the region's stark beauty. Refreshing
—— Financial Timeshaunting and profound
—— Sunday Express MagazineThis pure artist of the voyage looks back backwards and within, to his late mother and his childhood, as well as up to the Himalayan peaks and peoples that he sumptuously evokes
—— Boyd Tonkin , Independent, Books of the Year[An] elegiac account of high-altitude piety...he's still one of the best in the business
—— Helen Davies , Sunday Times, Books of the YearAn absolutely terrific book. Thubron has perfect pitch. He uses the minimum of words to maximum effect. His descriptions are fresh and acute and he can convey atmosphere and emotion on the head of a pin. The journey to Mount Kailash is enthralling and he keeps the reader right beside him every inch of the way
—— Michael Palin , Observer, Books of the YearPunchy, evocative... It is a dangerous journey up to 18,000ft, where Thubron, who is mourning his mother, is hit by altitude sickness
—— Tom Chesshyre , The TimesAbook which beautifully describes one man's experience of loss and familial love
—— Joanna Kavenna , Guardian[Thubron] skilfully balances his poetic descriptions of the land and its subtle, shifting colours with human stuff - observations of his fellow travellers, encounters and personal anecdotes, snippets of history and rather interesting accounts of Tantric Buddhism, with its swirling pantheon of blue-faced demons, bodhisattvas, gods and goddesses... Thubron has recently buried his last living relative and his grieving gives depth and weight to his meditations on Tibetan Buddhism
—— Angus Clarke , The TimesThis is a superb book from a writer who over his lifetime has shown himself to be our finest modern chronicler of Asia
—— TelegraphThe keenest-eyed, least self-absorbed, of literary travellers, Colin Thubron writes with a pin-point elegance and economy that directs your gaze to a place and its people, rather than to the author's foibles... His tales of seekers, refugees and mystics richly sketch the background of Tibetan history and Buddhist belief. Above all, his lean and supple prose draws meaning and moment from every encounter. "To the pilgrims, there are no mute stones" - and not to their ultra-observant companion
—— Boyd Tonkin , IndependentHis book is interspersed with poignant passages about his late parents and sister, who died in an avalanche when he was 23. Thubron also reveals some cultural surprises.
—— Simon Shaw , Daily MailMaking a lyrical hymn out of travel writing, Thubron's evocative pilgrimage is typically poised yet, triggered by the death of his mother, also unusually personal
—— Sunday TelegraphThubron's writing is as spectacular as his surroundings so he therefore makes you feel as though you are treading the path with him
—— Charlotte Vowden , Daily Express[Thubron] doesn't just walk into the higher reaches of the Himalyas but explores his own reaches of eternity as well as the more outer regions of Buddhism and Hinduism
—— The Irish TimesDeploying a poetic blend of travel and memoir, Thubron uses Buddhism to inform reflections on the cycles of life and the meaning of suffering... it is an elegy for everything that makes us human
—— Sara Wheeler , GuardianReflections of the wheel of life are sensitively handled and the writing is as beautiful as ever
—— Anthony Sattin , Sunday TimesA new Travel Thubron is always to be savoured, but there was something valedictory and elegiac about this
—— Gavin Francis , Scotland on Sunday, Books of the Year