A UK debut by a critically acclaimed author - a novel that combines lyrical storytelling with urgent contemporary themes of gender violence, tradition and patriarchy
In the Black Mountains of Pakistan, the discovery of an unconscious, unknown man is the first snowball in an avalanche of chaos. The head of the village is beset with problems - including the injured stranger - and failing to find his way out. His daughter receives a love letter and incurs her father's wrath. A lame boy foretells disaster, but nobody is listening. Trapped in terrible danger, a wolf-dog is battling ice and death to save a soldier's life. Beaten by her addict husband for bearing him only daughters, a woman is pregnant again - but can this child save her?
As the elements turn on the village, can humanity find a way to co-exist with nature that doesn't destroy either of them?
Price: $18.95
Pages: 320
Publisher: Canongate Books
Imprint: Canongate Books
Publication Date:
24 June 2025
Trim Size: 7.80 X 5.08 in
ISBN: 9781838858209
Format: Paperback
BISACs:
FICTION / Literary, Modern and contemporary fiction: general and literary, FICTION / World Literature / Pakistan, FICTION / Nature & the Environment
"Exceptionally well-told . . . Feryal writes with complete passion and dedication about her central themes - feminism, environmentalism and the elements that must be respected about dissimilar cultures"
Feryal Ali-Gauhar's first novel, The Scent of Wet Earth in August, was a bestseller in India, her second novel, No Space for Further Burials, won the Patras Bokhari award and was translated into several European languages. Her third novel, An Abundance of Wild Roses, was written with the assistance of the Roger Deakin award for environmental activism. Ali-Gauhar has served as a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for the Population Fund. She is an actor, film-maker, columnist, novelist, animal rights activist and currently serves as Advisor at the Water and Power Development Authority of Pakistan for cultural heritage management of Diamer Bhasha Dam.
