Death of an ancient king - Laurent Gaud

The international prize-winning bestseller, from a hugely popular writer dubbed 'le chouchou des libraires' (`the darling of the booksellers') by the French press: `'A magnificent fable about the blindness of war.' Elle

'The King peered along the avenues, waiting to see the procession of gifts arriving. But it was not a procession that he saw. In the middle of the avenue there was one man, approaching alone, to the steady, regular pace of a large camel resplendent in cloths of a thousand colours. The animal and its rider pitched rhythmically like a ship on the swell of the waves. With his head lowered as a sign of respect, the man removed his veil so that his face should be hidden no longer.'

King Tsongor is getting old. Having governed his immense empire peacefully for many years, he prepares to give his lovely daughter Samilia away to her official suitor, the prince of the Lands of Salt. The streets outside the palace are filled with rose petals, and gold cloth hangs from every window. But on the eve of the wedding, a lone, mysterious rider appears instead to claim Samilia's hand. Within days, two great nations prepare for a senseless conflict over a beautiful woman; and an old, sad King looks on as his world and his family fall apart.

Bursting with colour and raw emotion, and embracing grand themes of loyalty, family, honour and war, Death of an Ancient King is like a lost fragment of a Greek tragedy. Told in a simple, hypnotic prose that gathers beauty with every page, this small, prize-winning jewel of a book is impossible to classify, but the richness of its achievement announces the arrival of a major new literary talent.