Product Description

A tantalising tale of what befalls nine different individuals travelling the desert route between Mecca and Medina in the middle of the nineteenth century, as they encounter a mysterious saddlebag that changes each of their lives. It seems a perfectly ordinary saddlebag when the Thief steals it from a Pilgrim; but what are its contents, so precious and so powerful that they can wreak death or joy, ruin or salvation? 'Like CATCH 22 and THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS, when you finish reading Bahiyyih Nakhjavani's debut novel, you wonder how on earth she is ever going to be able to follow it up, such is the uniqueness of its form, the precise simplicity of its language and the vaguely unsettling nature of its premise' BIG ISSUE

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #74764 in Books
• Published on: 2001-02-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Review
In the desert a Bedouin thief steals a saddlebag; hoping to gain great wealth from it, when pursued and surrounded he jumps, with the bag in his arms, from a high promontory. The thief is shattered on the rocks below but the saddlebag remains intact although certain papers are spilled from it onto the sand. In a first novel of astonishing power and originality the author describes the fate of nine different individuals as they travel the desert route between Medina and Mecca in the mid-19th century. Each one of them encounters and is subtly changed by the saddlebag, which, while it appears quite ordinary, is apparently imbued with the power of life and death - of pain and ecstasy. Inspired by the holy books of major world religions with references to the Bhagvad Gita, the Quaran and the sayings of Buddha and Confusius. This is both a Thriller and a meditation on the ultimate goal of human existence - but don't be put off: it is unputdownable storytelling; at times horrific (tongues are cut out and throats slit with wanton ease) but also inventive and with magically beautiful descriptive passages. The author tells her compelling tale with a humour which gently mocks the extravagant behaviour of these egocentric human beings and yet brings tears to the eyes when the saddlebag works its magic and their spirits are released from mortal bondage. A truly remarkable achievement. (Kirkus UK)

From the Publisher
A wonderful and bewitching story of life and death.
‘Remarkable ... the story expands like the overlapping petals of a flower. The language of Nakhjavani’s story is as beautiful as the scenes she describes, a litany of names and places, beliefs and deities’ SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY

‘Nakhjavani’s assured style is familiar from early Salman Rushdie, with a lofty moral framework in which characters can transcend their corrupt world or fret their lives away’ THE TIMES

‘Nakhjavani displays a love of storytelling almost for its own sake’ LITERARY REVIEW

Customer Reviews

A book like a dream!
What a gift! Touching, enchanting, creating poetical, partly mystical images in the reader's heart and mind that are lasting - maybe a lifetime. A book with the power to change vibrations and cause a feeling of spiritual satisfaction that all too often seems to be lost in our materialistic day-to-day life. Everyone who longs for a book which leaves unforgettable impressions, which opens gates to new, fascinating worlds, will be grateful for having found "The Saddlebag"!

A finely spun web of a story -but not for the faint-hearted
Accounts of events in history, can never depict absolute truth - any event can be viewed, interpreted and understood in a multitude of ways from every possible perspective, even by those who witnessed it first hand. This novel takes as its starting point the theft of a saddlebag from a merchant on the Mecca-Medina pilgrimage route. The contents of the saddlebag - rolls of parchment conveying holy texts - then begin to weave a spell on a caravan of characters who come into contact with it. This is a Canterbury Tales in middle-eastern guise. All on the route - they are not named but archetypically carry their occupation as their identity - are journeying towards knowledge, self-realisation. All will find the saddlebag's secret uprooting and transforming of their perceptions of what is the truth. Reading this book is like looking through a multi-faceted prism at a central event which is reenacted again and again - the raid on the caravan by bandits and the role the saddlebag has on its protagonists lives. Through the personal stories of each of the characters whom the event touches, one sees the truth unfolding in various ways, each story gives a different angle on the event, each character interprets the events from his or her own viewpoint of experience, belief or peculiar fatalism. The language of the book is as rich and interwoven as an intricately-patterned Persian carpet (reading it aloud and letting the place names roll around the tongue is recommended). The characters so well drawn that in some cases their various odours leap out of the page to perfume or revolt the readers nostrils. Some of the scenes are not for the faint of heart, but then death and destiny are not always sanitary experiences. This is a finely spun spider's web of a novel, courageous in conception, captivating in its story telling, filled with a dark and at times, disturbing wit, highly recommended.

A multi-faceted gem - but not for the faint-hearted!
Accounts of events in history, can never depict absolute truth - any event can be viewed, interpreted and understood in a multitude of ways from every possible perspective, even by those who witnessed it first hand. This novel takes as its starting point the theft of a saddlebag from a merchant on the Mecca-Medina pilgrimage route. The contents of the saddlebag - rolls of parchment conveying holy texts - then begin to weave a spell on a caravan of characters who come into contact with it. This is a Canterbury Tales in middle-eastern guise. All on the route - they are not named but archetypically carry their occupation as their identity - are journeying towards knowledge, self-realisation. All will find the saddlebag's secret uprooting and transforming of their perceptions of what is the truth. Reading this book is like looking through a multi-faceted prism at a central event which is reenacted again and again - the raid on the caravan by bandits and the role the saddlebag has on its protagonists lives. Through the personal stories of each of the characters whom the event touches, one sees the truth unfolding in various ways, each story gives a different angle on the event, each character interprets the events from his or her own viewpoint of experience, belief or peculiar fatalism. The language of the book is as rich and interwoven as an intricately-patterned Persian carpet (reading it aloud and letting the place names roll around the tongue is recommended). The characters so well drawn that in some cases their various odours leap out of the page to perfume or revolt the readers nostrils. Some of the scenes are not for the faint of heart, but then death and destiny are not always sanitary experiences. This is a finely spun spider's web of a novel, courageous in conception, captivating in its story telling, filled with a dark and at times, disturbing wit, highly recommended.