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Names of the Women
Names of the Women
Oct 5, 2024 8:23 PM

Author:Jeet Thayil

Names of the Women

'Dazzling' MARLON JAMES, BOOKER PRIZE WINNER

'Original and thought-provoking' SPECTATOR

'Electrifying' TESSA HADLEY

Under a predawn sky, humming with starlight and the songs of birds, a group of determined women return to the cave where they have laid the body of their saviour. When they arrive, it is empty.

Names of the Women tells the stories of fifteen women whose lives overlapped with the life of Christ. Women who stayed with Christ through the crucifixion, when his disciples had abandoned him, and who spread his radical message - one that made them equals and a profound threat to power within the church.

Together, the voices of the women dare us to reimagine the story of the New Testament in a way it has never before been told.

*A 'BOOKS OF 2021' PICK IN THE FINANCIAL TIMES AND NEW STATESMAN*

Reviews

Names of the Women is an extraordinary work of restoration, playful invention, and stark beauty.

—— Chris Power

Bold and compelling.

—— Rebecca Abrams , Financial Times

Theologically well-informed, imaginative and affecting . . . This is a fascinating and beautiful book. You most certainly do not have to be either a Christian or a feminist to appreciate it.

—— Stuart Kelly , Scotland on Sunday

Achingly beautiful. Powerful, poetic and profoundly feminist.

—— Jennifer Croft

Jeet Thayil's Names of the Women enacts a long-overdue reinstating of female voices in the story of Jesus . . .

—— Emily Watkins , i

Thayil sheds absorbing light on a period when women of all classes were disregarded . . . [Names of the Women is] executed with real empathy and aplomb.

—— Max Davidson , Mail on Sunday

Original and thought-provoking . . . This is a bold and beguiling addition to the canon of New Testament fiction.

—— Michael Arditti , Spectator

Names of The Women unerases the erased, gives voice to the silenced, restores the lost, and brings dazzling, smouldering life to stories long left for dead. It is literally a tale that's waited a thousand years to be told.

—— Marlon James, Winner of the 2015 Booker Prize

An electrifying new treatment of the old story; haunting, mysterious, intelligent.

—— Tessa Hadley

Fascinating.

—— Claire Allfree , Daily Mail

It's fascinating to be reminded how little we properly understand one of the foundational stories of western civilisation. And there are moments where the much-pondered events are reframed in a new light.

—— Marcel Theroux , Guardian

[A] richly imagined novel.

—— Lady, *Summer Reads of 2021*

Women from the New Testament are given a voice and their side of the story in this richly imagined but impressively researched novel. Thayil's knowledge and rootedness in the biblical world is palpable on every page.

—— Juanita Coulson , Lady, *Books of the Year*

A gleaming and brilliant novel of history, mystery and mythology set in Georgian London...a real gem of a debut

—— Anna Mazzola

A complete and utter joy of a book. I adored the characters and it was an incredibly atmospheric read. The evocation of eighteenth century London was beautifully done, the mystery kept me turning the pages and the love story captured my heart. My only complaint was I didn't want it to end!'

—— Elodie Harper, bestselling author of The Wolf Den

This novel is a work of genius. Beautifully written and perfectly plotted with a heroine you'll fall in love with. It richly describes Georgian London and weaves character study and gorgeous setting and Greek mythology into a perfect book. One of the best historical novels I've ever read.

—— Christina Sweeney-Baird

Delicious, intriguing and original...unfolds beautifully into a cracking finale.

—— Liz Hyder, author of The Gifts

If you like a novel steeped in great characters, a Gothic Georgian London, a world of antiquities and myth - this is an absolute winner. I loved it!

—— Essie Fox

The author has very skilfully and pleasurably set her tale in Georgian London...wonderful characters ...book groups will love the plot and be entranced by Dora's world

—— NB Magazine

Sumptuous, hypnotic and unforgettable. This beautifully told story of Gothic Georgian London is filled with mesmeric wonder, compelling mysteries and fascinating characters. I loved every page of it.

—— BP Walter, author of The Dinner Guest

[An] immersive, unusual love tale

—— Claire Allfree , Metro

Stokes-Chapman can write fascinating, three-dimensional characters... Meanwhile, extensive research brings the period so much to life you can taste it... full of buried family histories and fantastical archaeological theories, Pandora is a readable, solid debut

—— Natasha Pulley , Guardian

Whether the discussion is about artificial intelligence, the future capacities of knowledge, politics, philosophy, intuition, history (philosopher Thomas Metzinger shares experiences from post–World War II Germany that are hard to look away from), religion, reason, or the nature of consciousness, Harris grounds lofty discussions with concrete examples and his gift for analogy . . . free and open debate, in the best sense of the word . . . the book’s advantage over the podcast is that readers can linger as they need to and cherry-pick interviews at will. Recommended for anyone who wants to spend time with intelligent minds wrestling not with each other but with understanding.

—— Kirkus Reviews

One of the most eloquent and inspiring memoirs of recent years... A Dutiful Boy is real-life storytelling at its finest

—— Mr Porter, *Summer Reads of 2021*

Mohsin Zaidi...in a compassionate, compelling and humorous way, tells his story of seeking acceptance within the gay community, and within the Muslim community in which he grew up

—— Gilllian Carty , Scottish Legal News

A powerful portrayal of being able to live authentically despite all the odds

—— Mike Findlay , Scotsman

Zaidi's affecting memoir recounts his journey growing up in east London in a devout Muslim household. He has a secret, one he cannot share with anyone - he is gay. When he moves away to study at Oxford he finds, for the first time, the possibility of living his life authentically. The dissonance this causes in him - of finding a way to accept himself while knowing his family will not do the same - is so sensitively depicted. One of the most moving chapters includes him coming home to a witch doctor, who his family has summoned to "cure" him. This is an incredibly important read, full of hope.

—— Jyoti Patel, The Guardian

A beautifully written book, a lovely story, life-affirming

—— Jeremy Vine

Zaidi's account is raw, honest and at times quite painful to read. It's so vivid that it feels almost tangible, as though you're living the experiences of the author himself.

—— Vogue

This heartfelt and honest book is beautifully written and full of hope

—— The New Arab
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