{"product_id":"the-stone-woman-isbn-9781781680049","title":"The Stone Woman","description":"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.’\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Stone Woman\u003c\/i\u003e is the third novel of Tariq Ali’s ‘Islam Quartet’. Like its predecessors—\u003ci\u003eShadows of the Pomegranate Tree\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Book of Saladin—\u003c\/i\u003eits power lies both in the story-telling and the challenge it poses to stereotyped images of life under Islam.“... an Eastern \u003ci\u003eMagic Mountain.\u003c\/i\u003e”—\u003ci\u003eLondon Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A richly woven tapestry that, even before its completion, merits comparison with Naguib Mahfouz's celebrated \u003ci\u003eCairo Trilogy.\u003c\/i\u003e A great work in progress.”—\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Ali spins a web of tales that is as inventive and fantastical as the Arabian nights.”—\u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Tales of anguish, longing, lust and love all find their way to \u003ci\u003eThe Stone Woman\u003c\/i\u003e. Ali paints a vivid picture of a fading world.”—\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“This Chekhov-like scenario of intense emotion within a creaking social structure constructs a rich picture of history and the way we think about history.”—\u003ci\u003eTimes Literary Supplement\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eTariq Ali\u003c\/b\u003e is a writer and filmmaker. He has written more than a dozen books on world history and politics—including \u003ci\u003ePirates of the Caribbean\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eBush in Babylon\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Clash of Fundamentalisms\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Obama Syndrome\u003c\/i\u003e—as well as five novels in his Islam Quintet series and scripts for the stage and screen. He is an editor of the \u003ci\u003eNew Left Review\u003c\/i\u003e and lives in London.","brand":"Verso","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46303156109541,"sku":"NP9781781680049","price":16.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781781680049.jpg?v=1767741664","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/the-stone-woman-isbn-9781781680049","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}