Huge Dreams

Ali Kahn Shirvanshir is a Muslim: a man of the desert ('which does not ask, does not give, and does not promise anything'). Nino Kipiani is Georgian, a girl of woods and meadows; European, Christian - who eats with a knife and fork, drinks wine, does not wear the veil... A girl ahead of her time. But they fall in love and the words they speak are recognizable throughout the world and down the ages. Their commitment to each other is unforgettably touching, their loyalty poignant. They are destined, clearly, for tragedy. Not quite Romeo and Juliet, but what stands between them - aeons of culture, religion, tradition and history. They live in Baku, capital of Azerbeidshan, on the shores of the Caspian Sea, where Asia meets Europe, East meets West. Superficially, and because they love each other and believe that is enough, they 'understand', and are tolerant. But their invisible roots run deep - deeper than they realize, and the odds are against them. In the end it is not just religion and tradition which shatter their idyll. World War I will shake the kaleidescope of their dreams for ever and destroy the pattern of the world in which their families have lived for generations. This slim but epic novel has itself had a history almost as romantic and turbulent as that of the lovers. First published in 1937 (in Vienna) it disappeared during World War II, was re-discovered (in a second-hand bookshop) in the ruins of post-war Berlin, translated by Graman and republished in the 1970s, to reach this English edition in the year 2000. But still the true identity of the author is uncertain. Whoever it was (s)he has given to the world one of the great love stories of all time - and a vibrant, poetic, portrait of a period and social order still largely an enigma to the West. (Kirkus UK)