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Informationen zum Autor Leila Aboulela was born in Cairo and grew up in Khartoum. She is the author of four novels: THE TRANSLATOR! MINARET and LYRICS ALLEY! all of which were longlisted for the Orange Prize! and THE KINDNESS OF ENEMIES. LYRICS ALLEY won Novel of the Year at the Scottish Book Awards and was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize! while Aboulela's collection of short fiction! COLOURED LIGHTS! won the Caine Prize. She lives in Aberdeen. Klappentext The book opens in Scotland! 2010. Natasha is an academic whose special interest is Imam Shamil! the warrior who led the fight to protect the Caucasus from Russian invasion from 1830 to 1859. When she discovers that her best student! Oz Raja! is descended from Shamil and that his mother possesses the mighty warrior's sword! Natasha is delighted. Born of a Sudanese father and a Russian mother! Natasha was denied a Muslim heritage and is quickly drawn into Raja family life. But with Oz determined to uphold Jihad as an internal and spiritual struggle! Natasha finds that her career! her home and the fragile foundations on which she has built her life are in grave danger. In the Caucasus! 1839! Shamil feels the burden of command weigh heavily upon him when he is forced to surrender his eldest son! Jamaleldin! to the Russians as proof of his commitment to negotiate peace. But although his son is taken hostage! the fighting continues! leaving Shamil bereft. Years later! in 1854! Shamil captures Anna Elinichna! a Princess of Georgia! and will only exchange her for the safe return of his son. But Jamaleldin is now a favourite of the Tsar and enjoys fine clothes! parties and dancing with the women of the Russian court. If forced to return! will he be the boy that Shamil remembers? And can Shamil give up Anna! whose beauty! dignity and composure he is beginning to find very attractive? Moving from present-day Scotland to nineteenth-century Russia! the wild mountains of the Caucasus and the elegant court of the Tsar! this is an evocative epic of conquest and betrayal! of love! loss and reconciliation between families and nations at war. For fans of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and THE NARROW ROAD TO THE DEEP NORTH, a sweeping new novel from the three times Orange Prize longlisted, Scottish Book Award and Caine Prize winner Leila Aboulela. Zusammenfassung Natasha lives a lonely life! adrift in Scotland and torn between two identities. Born into a Muslim background but desperate to assimilate! she longs for a place to call home. Then she meets Oz. Oz is charismatic and passionate! a star student at the university where Natasha teaches. As their bond deepens! stories from Natasha's research come to life - tales of forbidden love! traded hostages! grieving mothers! and the Court of the Tsar. But conflict emerges far closer to home as the police begin to investigate Oz. When they accuse him of terrorism! Natasha stands to lose everything she has fought to build . . . Moving! epic and beautifully written! THE KINDNESS OF ENEMIES is a story about tolerance! identity and the places we call home. ...
