The Story of Zahra A Novel

With more than 21,000 copies in print of Women Of Sand And Myrrh, and more than 15,000 copies ofThe Story Of Zahra, Hanan al-Shaykh is the best known and most admired woman writer of the Arab world. The paperback publication ofZahrawill bring this passionate and courageous novel to a much larger group of readers. Its haunting story of a young Lebanese woman who attempts to stem the violence in Beirut by initiating a sexual liaison with a sniper has "lifted the corner of a dark curtain" (Sunday Telegraph) from a world that fascinates us all.

Hanan al-Shaykh, an award-winning journalist, novelist, and playwright, is the author of the short story collection I Sweep the Sun off Rooftops; the novels The Story of Zahra, Women of Sand and Myrrh, Beirut Blues, and Only in London; and a memoir about her mother, The Locust and the Bird. She was raised in Beirut, educated in Cairo, and lives in London.