City of the Silenced: A Novel

WINNER OF THE NAGUIB MAHFOUZ MEDAL FOR LITERATURE ~ WINNER OF THE KATARA PRIZE FOR ARABIC FICTIONA stunning and luminous novel of modern Lebanon, a deeply human portrayal of men and women longing for change“This novel transcends the limits of its own setting in space and time to unveil a general human reality for those of us in contemporary society who live in cities that stifle souls and kill dreams.”-Sarah Enany, translator of The Girl with Braided HairIn Lebanon’s coastal city of Tyre, Sultan was raised by the sea, under the shade of ficus trees.But it is not an idyllic life. He lives in the cemetery, born into a family who hold the unique profession of announcing a person’s death through a loudspeaker around town.Sultan longs to escape the dark shadow cast by this existence, longs not to follow in his father’s footsteps, but finds himself trapped between the cemetery and the sea. Sultan is not alone in his desire for escape: His best friend loads his family onto a small boat and ta