Song of Ancient Lovers - by Laura Restrepo (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Award-winning Colombian author Laura Restrepo weaves contemporary themes and ancient myth in this story of star-crossed lovers in a world on the brink of collapse"-- Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

Award-winning Colombian author Laura Restrepo weaves contemporary themes and ancient myth in this story of star-crossed lovers in a world on the brink of collapse.

Retelling the mythical love story between the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon in the refugee camps of the present day, Song of Ancient Lovers is a sublime ode to love and desire as forces shaping human history, with power that rivals forces of destruction.

Ethereal in its weaving of the real and the mythical, the contemporary and the ancient, this is the story of Bos Mutas, a young writer traveling from South America to northern Africa in search of traces of his obsession. His research unveils the Queen of Sheba as unyielding and committed to her independence, with remarkable influence both in her time--over Solomon and all the subjects in her expansive kingdom--and on thinkers and artists across the centuries, from Thomas Aquinas to Gérard de Nerval, Frida Kahlo to Patti Smith. He also finds traces of her influence in the magic made of devastating circumstances by women he meets on his journey, especially Zahra Bayda, a Somali midwife who has taken it upon herself to show him around.

Stunning and evocative, Song of Ancient Lovers is a triumph of imagination and reverence for the spirit that connects us across boundaries of time and geography.

Translated from the Spanish by Caro De Robertis

Review Quotes

"Readers are swept into a whirlwind upon entering celebrated Colombian writer Restrepo's spellbinding mythical yet all-too-realistic tale of a young writer's quest to find the truth about the legendary Queen of Sheba ... By meshing the past with the present, Restrepo traces the deep roots of Middle Eastern beauty and brutality. Laced with quotes, its exalted language sumptuously translated, this is a mystical, many-faceted, and profoundly affecting homage to the power of women." - Booklist (starred review)
"Sweeping and lyrical ... An undeniable ode to an inspiring figure." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Restrepo's gift for description and worldbuilding is impressive, as is her astonishing breadth of allusions ranging from Patti Smith to Thomas Aquinas." - Kirkus Reviews
"An imaginative exploration of the Queen of Sheba myth across various time periods and a deeply haunting meditation on how war renders lives asunder for all who bear its heartbreak." - Marjan Kamali, author of The Lion Women of Tehran, The Stationery Shop, and Together Tea
"A testament to the power of song to renew the myths that can lull and devour but ultimately sustain us." - Julia Alvarez, bestselling author of The Cemetery of Untold Stories and In the Time of the Butterflies