Daily Bookshot: Waiting at the (Canon)Gate

Waiting at the (Canon)Gate, originally uploaded by Robert Burdock.

For today’s Daily Bookshot I bring you a close-up of one of the novels I’m looking forward to reading most during this first month of 2010. This is The House of the Mosque by Iranian author Kader Abdolah, which is published by Canongate Books on the 21st of this month.

Beautifully illustrated by artist Astrid Chesney (you can see the whole of the cover if you visit the ‘commissions page’ on Astrid’s website and click on the relevant thumbnail), The House of the Mosque on the face of it, certainly hits the metaphorical nail on the head, in meeting my tastes both culturally and literarily.

Aside from my often-mentioned love of world literature, I am deeply fascinated by all aspects of Islamic culture (my Master’s dissertation was on the development of the mosque didn’t you know), and the blurb for The House of the Mosque has really got my cultural juices flowing:

In the house of the mosque, the family of Aqa Jaan has lived for eight centuries. Now it is occupied by three cousins: Aqa Jaan, a merchant and head of the city’s bazaar; Alsaberi, the imam of the mosque; and Aqa Shoja, the mosque’s muezzin. The house itself teems with life, as each of their families grows up with their own triumphs and tragedies. Sadiq is waiting for a suitor to knock at the door to ask for her hand, while her two grandmothers sweep the floors each morning dreaming of travelling to Mecca. Meanwhile, Shahbal longs only to get hold of a television to watch the first moon landing. All these daily dramas are played out under the watchful eyes of the storks that nest on the minarets above. But this family will experience upheaval unknown to previous generations. For in Iran, political unrest is brewing. The shah is losing his hold on power; the ayatollah incites rebellion from his exile in France; and one day the ayatollah returns. The consequences will be felt in every corner of Aqa Jaan’s family.

OK, so I know the blurb makes The House of the Mosque sound as though it may be more political than cultural. But given the nationality of the author Kader Abdolah (who incidentally is writing under a pen name created in memory of friends who died under the persecution of the Iranian regime), and the setting for the story, I think we can safely assume that culture of an Islamic flavour will be heavily featured.

So expect to see me talking about this one in the next couple of weeks. I can barely wait!

Canongate Books | 21 January 2010 | £12.99 | PAPERBACK | 400 PP | ISBN: 9781847672407