This April, the press is publishing two new trade titles, one championing the life and final work of Carlisle Floyd and a new work of translated Arabic fiction.
In a remote Egyptian village, a young doctor arrives to open a long-abandoned clinic. Recently released from prison for political dissent, he’s been exiled from Cairo to this dusty outpost. As he immerses himself among the myriad ailments of the impoverished villagers, from scorpion stings and boils to the debilitating effects of bilharzia, he is drawn to a young nurse who becomes a trusted companion and provides an emotional refuge from his traumatic past. Farah represents everything the city doctor thinks he wants and offers a chance to rebuild his life. But are her ambitions really in line with his? And if this is love, is redemption certain to follow? In The Country Doctor’s Tale, author Mohamed Mansi Qandil weaves together forbidden love, political corruption, and the clash between tradition and desire. The doctor’s world expands to include al-Jazya, the queen of a marginalized tribe who sees through his pretensions, and a menacing district chief of police reminding him that no one escapes the reach of authority. Qandil’s novel evokes the beauties and cruelties of life in a small community on the edge of the Nile as our doctor’s journey takes him through the muddy lanes of the village, the verdant fields of maize, and finally a grim quest in the haunting landscape of the White Desert—all the while struggling with an imperfect moral compass. The work is translated into English by R. Neil Hewison.
In 2010, Carlisle Floyd, one of American opera’s most titanic talents, found himself at an impasse. Caring for family and with few leads as to his next project, he unexpectedly found a spark of inspiration in the story of Edward Kynaston. This seventeenth-century British actor had his star turn on the stage unceremoniously ended by a ban on male actors performing women’s roles. Centuries later, his misfortune gave this brilliant composer a way back onto the stage he valued so much. In Encore: Carlisle Floyd’s Valedictory to American Opera, companion to Falling Up: The Days and Nights of Carlisle Floyd, Thomas Holliday follows Floyd through his creatively fruitful final decade, focusing on his relationship with family and the production of his final opera, Prince of Players, inspired by the life and work of Kynaston. Told through reminiscences from those closest to him, the book is an intimate portrait of the composer’s creative process. Encore is a testament to Floyd’s work and enduring influence, a portrait of an icon still innovating and creating until the end.
Both books are available for preorder now and will be available everywhere on April 15.