Description
Book SynopsisRural Iraq, during the war against the so-called Islamic State. A pregnancy out of wedlock. The young woman knows her fate is sealed. In crystalline prose May the Tigris Grieve for You enters the minds of all protagonists, before and after death; fragments of the legend of Gilgamesh, the Mesopotamian hero who carries along the memory of the country and its people, punctuate the family members' short monologues, spaced with the mythical voice of the Tigris River, who has seen it all.; Inspired by her experience of Iraq's complex reality and brutal wars, Malfatto delivers an uncompromising yet compassionate insight into a rigid society ruled by fathers and sons, a world in which life matters less than honour. Winner of the Prix Goncourt du Premier Roman 2021.
Trade Review'A chorus of a novel with a rare intensity... here honour rhymes with horror. Each page is dazzling.' - Le Figaro Litteraire;'With masterful lyricism and elegant language, Emilienne Malfatto gives an account of one of the intimate tragedies that so often pass unnoticed between falling bombs' - Liberation; 'Approaching the tragedy of femicide from the inside, Emilienne Malfatto brings a stripped back lyricism to these destinies of submission.' - Livres Hebdo; 'The writing is simple, the sentences often short and arresting. The story comes swift and powerful, a true literary achievement.' - France Info Culture; 'A long poem in prose, like a fable, or Greek tragedy. A beautiful book, and beautiful first novel.' - France bleue radio; 'A hard-hitting tale of many voices, that is strong, moving and painful in equal measure.' - Femmes ici et ailleurs; 'A first novel that reads raw, laid bare, short and hard-hitting. A taut tragedy, like a rope that we know is fragile, threatened by obscurantim, the weight of tradition and taboo. A deep dive into present day Iraq.' - Bernard Magnier, Le francais dans le monde
