The novel intertwines two stories. In the first, the Persian poet Omar Khayyam writes his Rubaiyat in eleventh-century Samarkand and Isfahan, caught between the court of the sultan, the sect of the Assassins and his friendship with Hassan Sabbah and Nizam al-Mulk. In the second, an American scholar, Benjamin Lesage, finds the original manuscript of the Rubaiyat in 1896 and takes it to the West, a quest that involves Persian revolutionaries and ends on the Titanic. Maalouf mixes history and fiction.
A rich historical novel for readers who like the East and the stories of manuscripts.
Balanced in tone; a moderate read.
Best for readers like The Story Seeker. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 1989
- Publisher
- Le Livre de Poche
- Language
- FR
