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Start giftingMoving the Palace
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Learn moreAt the dawn of the twentieth century, a young Lebanese adventurer leaves the Levant to explore the wilds of Africa, encountering an eccentric English colonel in Sudan and enlisting in his service. In this lush chronicle of far-flung adventure, the military recruit crosses paths with a compatriot who has dismantled a sumptuous palace in Tripoli and is transporting it across the continent on a camel caravan.
The protagonist soon takes charge of this hoard of architectural fragments, ferrying the dismantled landmark through Sudan, Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula, attempting to return to his native Beirut with this moveable real estate. Along the way, he encounters skeptic sheikhs, suspicious tribal leaders, bountiful feasts, pilgrims bound for Mecca and T. E. Lawrence in a tent.
This is a captivating modern-day Odyssey in the tradition of Bruce Chatwin and Paul Theroux.
Charif Majdalani, born in Lebanon in 1960, is often compared to a Lebanese Proust. Majdalani lived in France from 1980 to 1993 and now teaches French literature at the Université Saint-Joseph in Beirut. The original French version of his novel Moving the Palace won the 2008 François Mauriac Prize from the Académie Francaise as well as the Prix Tropiques.
Jonathan Davis is a critically acclaimed narrator and voice-over actor. He is a three‐time winner and ten‐time nominee of the coveted Audie Award. Davis’s documentary narration credits include films and programming for National Geographic Television, National Geographic Channel, VH1, and PBS. His voice can also be heard in commercials, video games, and animation.
Edward Gauvin has received prizes and fellowships including those awarded by PEN America, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Fulbright program. His work has won the John Dryden Translation Prize and the Science Fiction & Fantasy Translation Award. He has translated over 200 graphic novels.
Reviews
“A Middle Eastern heart-of-darkness tale that flows like a dream, occasionally turning nightmarish, but is always rendered with a hypnotic quality beautifully captured in Edward Gauvin’s elegant translation…Majdalani’s novels are much praised in the Francophone world and with good reason. His seductive prose twists and turns, deftly matching hallucinatory content with form.”
“The reader remains captivated long after having completed this epic and comic novel.”
“Charming and gently humorous…Majdalani’s writing sparkles…Those looking for an enjoyable and brisk literary adventure will be very satisfied.”
“This utterly charming and, yes, moving novel takes us on a journey…and the result is a victory of human ingenuity and a joyous picaresque…Beautiful fun that also gives a deeper sense of Middle East history.”
“Through this fascinating adventure, Charif Majdalani constructs one of the most beautiful epics I’ve ever read.”
“Charif Majdalani has a ripping yarn to tell and tells it with a raconteur’s bravura. Transporting, wholly engaging, deeply moving. This book is why I travel and why I read.”
“An eloquent, captivating excursion through a Middle East history that is more relevant today than ever.”
“Renders the complex social landscape of the Middle East and North Africa with subtlety and finesse…Yet one doesn’t need to care about the region’s history, or its present-day contexts, to enjoy Moving the Palace…brio and Majdalani’s richly textured prose are reason enough.”
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