The Patience Stone

A deceptively simple book, written in a spare, poetic style. But it is a rich read… It is without doubt an important and courageous book – Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns
This is a remarkable novel, written with a beautiful lucidity… it is a book which achieves what imaginative literature can provide better than any art form: it makes you think and feel at the same time – Allan Massie * Scotsman *
An important and shocking polemic; it will outrage readers for the truths it reveals – Eileen Battersby * The Irish Times *
We know so little about the day-to-day life of people in Afghanistan - and in particular its women - that glittering gems such as this … become all the more valuable for shining a torch on a beleaguered and largely unseen existence * Metro *
Her monologue is a direct attempt on the part of Rahimi to rip away the veil over Afghan women’s lives… An act of political courage and a beautifully constructed, deeply memorable novella * Observer *
Perfectly written * Los Angeles Times *
Powerful… truly an expansive work of literature * New York Post *
One thinks of Marguerite Duras, the plays of Sartre, the absurdity of Samuel Beckett, even of Ernest Hemingway. Strangely beautiful, poignant, by turns light and serious… The Patience Stone is one of those rare novels which make time elastic; too short, it can be read in one go, yet it never leaves you * Lire *
An astonishing writer: this book is another brilliant triumph – Nadeem Aslam
Rich in symbolism – Charlotte Bailey * Times Literary Supplement *

Born in Afghanistan in 1962, Atiq Rahimi fled to France in 1984. There he has made a name as a writer, film and documentary maker of exceptional note. The film of his first novel, Earth and Ashes, was in the Official Selection at Cannes, 2004. He is adapting his second novel, A Thousand Rooms of Dream and Fear, for the screen. Since 2001, he has returned to Afghanistan many times to set up a Writers’ House in Kabul and offer support and training to young writers and film-makers. He lives in Paris.

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