Description
Book Synopsis"A masterpiece."--The Guardian
"Superb."--The New York Times Review of Books
Older brother is a driver for an app-based car service. Closed off for eleven hours every day in his cab, constantly tuned in to the radio, he ruminates about his life and the world that is waiting just on the other side of the windshield.
Younger brother set out for Syria several months ago, full of idealism. Hired as a nurse by a Muslim humanitarian organization, he has recently stopped sending any news back home.
This silence eats away at his father and brother, who ask themselves over and over again: why did he leave? One evening, the intercom rings. Little brother has come home.
In this incisive first novel, Mahir Guven alternates between lively humour and the gravity imposed by the threat of terrorism. He explores a world of Uberized workers, weighed down by loneliness, struggling to survive, but he also describes the universe of those who are actors in the global jihad: indoctrination, combat, their impossible return . . . This is the poignant story of a Franco-Syrian family whose father and two sons try to integrate themselves into a society that doesn’t offer them many opportunities.
Trade Review"A masterpiece of a first novel." * The Guardian *
"Superb...[Older Brother] accomplishes what the best kind of reporting can do: wade into questions that resist simple answers, while restoring dignity to its characters." * The New York Times Review of Books *
"A winning debut." * Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) *
"One of the most astute international debuts of the year." * Shelf Awareness *
In this powerful first novel, written in evocative language, Mahir Guven tells a story from within the very heart of our society, beset by the demons of Uberization and terrorism.” * Le courier de l’Atlas *
"A striking debut that reveals the breadth of emotional disconnection that prejudice can stoke within a family." * Kirkus Reviews *
“For his literary debut, Mahir Guven gives readers 300 high-flying pages.” * Le Figaro *
“With the ambivalent sentiments of a pair of brothers alienated by two systems at its core, this first novel is gripping, illuminating, but also funny. It is a call to renew the dream for all those who set foot on French soil.” * L'Obs *
