Bird Summons

A GUARDIAN BEST BOOK OF 2019

SHORTLISTED FOR THE SALTIRE FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR 2019

LONGLISTED FOR THE HIGHLAND BOOK PRIZE 2019

'BIRD SUMMONS is a magic carpet ride into the forest of history and the lives of women. Deep and wild' Lucy Ellmann, Booker-shortlisted author of DUCKS, NEWBURYPORT

Salma, happily married, tries every day to fit into life in Britain. When her first love contacts her, she is tempted to risk it all and return to Egypt.

Moni gave up a career in banking to care for her disabled son, but now her husband wants to move to Saudi Arabia - where she fears her son's condition will worsen.

Iman feels burdened by her beauty. In her twenties and already in her third marriage, she is treated like a pet and longs for freedom.

On a road trip to the Scottish Highlands, the women are visited by the Hoopoe, a sacred bird whose fables from Muslim and Celtic literature compel them to question the balance between faith and femininity, love, loyalty and sacrifice.

Brilliantly imagined, intense and haunting, Bird Summons confirms Leila Aboulela's reputation as one of our finest contemporary writers.

Long-listed for Highland Book Prize 2020 (UK)

“Tender, but unsentimental . . . rooted in everyday experience without forsaking the spiritual . . . told in effortlessly enjoyable style - DAILY MAILAboulela is doing much the same thing as Jane Austen did when she brought her heroines to the point of examining their feelings honestly ... a very good novel - SCOTSMAN BIRD SUMMONS is a magic carpet ride into the forest of history and the lives of women. Deep and wild BIRD SUMMONS is a Scottish-Arabic Canterbury Tales, a quest full of stories and surprises: a challenging storyteller's tour de force, uniting two radically different cultures with a handshake and a kiss Aboulela's is a unique and refreshing voice in contemporary Scottish fiction”

Tender, but unsentimental . . . rooted in everyday experience without forsaking the spiritual . . . told in effortlessly enjoyable style - DAILY MAIL

Aboulela is doing much the same thing as Jane Austen did when she brought her heroines to the point of examining their feelings honestly ... a very good novel - SCOTSMAN

BIRD SUMMONS is a magic carpet ride into the forest of history and the lives of women. Deep and wild

BIRD SUMMONS is a Scottish-Arabic Canterbury Tales, a quest full of stories and surprises: a challenging storyteller's tour de force, uniting two radically different cultures with a handshake and a kiss

Aboulela's is a unique and refreshing voice in contemporary Scottish fiction

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.

• A GUARDIAN BEST BOOK OF 2019 SHORTLISTED FOR THE SALTIRE FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR 2019 LONGLISTED FOR THE HIGHLAND BOOK PRIZE 2019 * 'BIRD SUMMONS is a magic carpet ride into the forest of history and the lives of women. Deep and wild' Lucy Ellmann, Booker-shortlisted author of DUCKS, NEWBURYPORT Salma , happily married, tries every day to fit into life in Britain. When her first love contacts her, she is tempted to risk it all and return to Egypt. Moni gave up a career in banking to care for her disabled son, but now her husband wants to move to Saudi Arabia - where she fears her son's condition will worsen. Iman feels burdened by her beauty. In her twenties and already in her third marriage, she is treated like a pet and longs for freedom.On a road trip to the Scottish Highlands, the women are visited by the Hoopoe, a sacred bird whose fables from Muslim and Celtic literature compel them to question the balance between faith and femininity, love, loyalty and sacrifice.Brilliantly imagined, intense and haunting, Bird Summons confirms Leila Aboulela's reputation as one of our finest contemporary writers.

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