222 mm x 146 mm, 176 pages RRP: R150, ISBN 978-1-4152-0054-4 Publication date: 28 July 2008, Category: Fiction Description A story of dislocation, survival and redemption, centred on the return of a young Muslim man to Cape Town after the ‘7/7’ terrorist attacks in the UK. Using the fictive setting of the upmarket Bay Regal Hotel in a very recognisable Cape Town, this novel brings several lives together in dramatic and unusual combinations. Shehzad Shadhili, son of an imam, struggles with memories of episodes in his past – events in London at the time of the July 2005 bombings. Shehzad’s return to Cape Town means having to engage with family and Muslim mores, as well as his growing responsibility for a seventeen-year-old German girl orphaned by the death of her father, who was a resident at the hotel. Inspired by events in the Muslim community, Shehzad implements a cunning plan for revenge and finds himself in a tangle of relationships – with an unexpected outcome. Although he lifts the veil on a brutal world, the touch of Sean Badal in this, his third book, is delicate. An intriguing, deeply thoughtful and surprisingly tenderhearted novel, and a vibrant example of contemporary South African fiction. From The Fall of the Black-Eyed Night, page 7 The Pakistani qawwali trio, the Lal Shahbazz brothers, had reached a sort of climax when Shehzad stepped into the kitchen. He could tell from the expression on his father’s face, a rapturous grin of ecstasy that spread from ear to ear. The imam’s hands were raised in anticipation – he was holding an invisible baton.       Even though his father was wearing headphones – an expensive, cordless Bose set that Shehzad had brought back from London – the voices of the trio were audible, a thin, discreet wail, as if coming from some far-off place in the night. The lush resonance of the composition struck Shehzad forcefully. Drawn by some invisible force, he strained his ears to catch it.       He could hear the joyous blend of the music, the driving, pounding beats of the tabla, dholak and pakhwa. The soaring tari, a form of ritualised handclapping, beat rhythmically to the music. The delicate twang of a sitar struggled to keep pace. It was a live recording and the ecstatic, fevered audience whooped and hollered in the background. To read on Click here to view an interview with Sean Badal. From the reviews Delicately observed and beautifully rendered , this story is bother tender and exquisite, familiar yet foreign: Badal has done South Africa proud with this thought-provoking and atmospheric literary read. – Aubrey Paton, Sunday Times, 12 October 2008 Read the whole review. E-mail us a comment on this book. (Comments may be edited and used on this website.) To buy this book www.exclusivebooks.com www.kalahari.net home   writers   books   contact   buy   rights all content © Umuzi, Random House Struik this website designed and maintained by Guanaco.co.za