Karim Kattan

Two young Palestinian men find love in a mythical Jerusalem, oppressed by occupation and a biblical sandstorm As a sandstorm of biblical proportions covers the land, two men cross paths in the labyrinthine old city of Jerusalem, where for centuries lovers have seduced each other by night with tales of jinns, warriors and wild beasts. Gabriel and Isaac fall in love, lose each other and find each other again. Then, despite the sand-filled wind and the yoke of occupation, they decide to go on holiday, on a road trip through the West Bank, a dangerous act of daring in a divided land. After The Palace on the Higher Hill, Karim Kattan returns to the Palestine of his imagination, mixing orality with classical culture, the marvellous with the tragically real. Lyrical, languorous and shattering Eden at Dawn is a cry for love in the midst of war that confirms the strength of the author’s literary universe. Widely acclaimed in France, Eden at Dawn has won several literary awards and was shortlisted for the Prix Renaudot in 2024.

Henkeäsalpaava rakkaustarina on matka taianomaiseen Palestiinaan. Outo hiekkatuuli peittää maan alleen, ja kaksi miestä kohtaa toisensa täti Fatiman luona. Jerusalemin sokkeloisessa kaupungissa yöt kuluvat tarinoiden jinneistä, leijonista ja ritareista. Riivatun vuodenajan keskellä Gabriel ja Isaac rakastuvat, eksyvät ja löytävät toisensa uudestaan. Rakastavaiset päättävät lähteä yhdessä lomalle hiekasta ja tarkastuspisteistä huolimatta. Mutta eikö se ole uhkarohkea suunnitelma pirstoutuneessa maassa? He matkaavat Jerusalemista Jerikoon ja edelleen salaperäiseen kylään, jossa unohdetaan kuolla, sekä aina Salomonin altaille asti. Karim Kattan kuvaa taianomaisesti Gabrielin ja Isaacin lumoavaa matkaa ankarassa mutta yltäkylläisessä ja upeassa Palestiinassa. Karim Kattan (s. 1989) on palestiinalainen kirjoittaja ja kirjallisuustieteen tohtori. Hän kirjoittaa ranskaksi, ja hänen teoksensa ovat keränneet lukuisia kirjallisuuspalkintoja ja ehdokkuuksia.

Faysal receives a mysterious letter about the death of aunt he can't remember. Leaving his lover and his life in Europe behind, he returns to the village of his birth in Palestine and to his family's extraordinary, deserted house, the palace on the higher hill. With a backdrop of violence and the permanent threat from settlers, Faysal wanders the once-lavish rooms as characters from the past return to shed light on his family story and on the story of his people. In beautiful, angry prose, Karim Kattan introduces us to an intimate Palestine of the imagination where dreams and nightmares are in constant conflict. With hints of One Hundred Years of Solitude and Brideshead Revisited, he gives a nuanced deeply moving vision of the tragedy of war and a picture of his homeland that feels entirely new to English-speaking readers. The book won the 2021 Prix des Cinq Continents de la Francophonie.