Martyr!
The Instant New York Times Bestseller
By Kaveh Akbar
Harry Hartog's review
Following Cyrus’s journey of recovery after addiction and his pursuit of life’s meaning, Martyr! unfolds as a deeply moving story of love, grief, and everything in between. The aches of his struggle are enriched by interludes from his family and friends, adding remarkable depth. Tales like this never leave you—they linger, resurfacing in quiet, nostalgic moments or strikingly making themselves known. Kaveh Akbar’s poetic brilliance shines through his prose, capturing life in its most complicated forms. If I could erase it from my memory just to experience it anew, I would do so in a heartbeat. - Asra, Harry Hartog Macquarie
Description
Cyrus Shams is lost.
The orphaned son of Iranian immigrants, Cyrus never knew his mother. Killed when her plane was shot down over the Persian Gulf in a senseless accident, Cyrus has spent his life grappling with the meaningless nature of his mother's death. Now he is set to learn the truth of her life.
When Cyrus's obsession with the lives of the martyrs - Bobby Sands, Joan of Arc - leads him to a chance encounter with a dying artist, he finds himself drawn towards the mysteries of his past: an uncle who rode through Iranian battlefields dressed as the Angel of Death; and toward his mother, who may not have been who or what she seemed.
As Cyrus searches for meaning in the scattered clues of his life, a final revelation transforms everything he thought he knew.
Electrifying, funny, wholly original, and profound, Martyr! heralds the arrival of a blazing and essential new voice in contemporary fiction.
- ISBN:
- 9781035026074
- Format:
- Paperback
- Pages:
- 352
- Published:
- Publisher:
- Pan Macmillan
- Imprint:
- Picador
- Weight:
- 443 g