Le Rocher de Tanios

In a Lebanese mountain village in the early nineteenth century, a boy named Tanios is born, supposedly the son of the sheikh's steward Lamia and the local feudal lord, although his real father may be another man. Amin Maalouf's novel, winner of the Prix Goncourt in 1993, is told by a narrator who has collected documents and oral traditions about Tanios, who as a young man is forced to leave after a murder. The story takes place against the Ottoman Empire, Egyptian occupation under Ibrahim Pasha and the intrigues of British and French agents, which led to the disruption of Mount Lebanon.

It will interest readers of historical fiction who enjoy a story set in a place where religion, rumour and politics are entangled. The book also shows how a village's legend can differ from the documents, a subject that sets Maalouf's work apart.

Contemplative and thought-provoking; a moderate read.

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