The Stone Woman by Tariq Ali
Each year, when the weather in Istanbul becomes unbearable, the family of Iskender Pasha, a retired Ottoman notable, retires to its summer palace overlooking the Sea of Marmara.
It is 1899 and the last great Islamic empire is in serious trouble. A former tutor poses a question which the family has been refusing to confront for almost a century: ‘Your Ottoman Empire is like a drunken prostitute, neither knowing nor caring who will take her next. Do I exaggerate, Memed?’ The history of Iskender Pasha’s family mirrors the growing degeneration of the Empire they have served for the last five hundred years.
This passionate story of masters and servants, school-teachers and painters, is marked by jealousies, vendettas and, with the decay of the Empire, a new generation which is deeply hostile to the half-truths and myths of the ‘golden days.’
The Stone Woman is the third novel of Tariq Ali’s Islam Quartet. Like its predecessors—Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree and The Book of Saladin—its power lies both in the story-telling and the challenge it poses to stereotyped images of life under Islam.
Format: Paperback | 288 pages
Dimensions (cm): 19.1 x 13.7 x 2 | 306g
Publication Date: 01 Nov 2001
Publisher: Verso
Publication City/Country: London, United Kingdom
Language: English
ISBN10: 1859843646
ISBN13: 9781859843642
Condition: Good
A vintage book that has been read but is in good condition. Some minor damage to the cover including scuff marks, but no holes or tears. The majority of pages are undamaged with minimal creasing but no tearing. No pencil underlining of text, no highlighting of text and no writing in margins. No missing pages.