{"product_id":"9781408879405","title":"All Our Broken Idols","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eAll Our Broken Idols\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): Paul M.M. Cooper\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eHistorical fiction Book of the Month in \u003cb\u003eThe Times\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTo the god of old things\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eTo the gods of the riverbank\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eTo the god of hunters\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAssyria, in the reign of Ashurbanipal. For Aurya and her daydreaming brother Sharo, every day is a struggle for survival, as they dodge the beatings of their drunken father and scrabble for scraps of food. One violent evening, everything changes. Soon, they are on the barge of King Ashurbanipal, bound for the beautiful, near-mythical city of Nineveh. Their fates become inextricably bound to that of the king – and the injured lion captured by his men. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTwenty-six centuries later, British-Iraqi  archaeologist Katya joins a dig in Mosul to  protect the ancient ruins of Nineveh from  organised looters, following in the footsteps of her dead father. When she and Salim, a fellow  archaeologist, discover an astonishingly beautiful and rare carving, they know their find will bring the world's attention to Mosul. But the real world crashes in to their studious idyll to catastrophic, devastating effect when ISIL storm Mosul – and take Katya, Salim and local girl Lola hostage.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eAll Our Broken Idols \u003c\/i\u003eis hauntingly evocative, a novel in which past and present lives intertwine and stories travel across the ages. It is a story about the importance of art and the threat it poses to those in power. And it is about bravery; standing up for what you believe in, and who you love.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Dual timeline novels often fail: one strand is more interesting than the other, or the links between the two are contrived. Not here. Both stories are superbly told and share the same preoccupation - the coexistence of cruelty and creative beauty\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e” —\u003ci\u003eTHE TIMES, Historical Novel of the Month\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Cooper's full-tilt storytelling remains immersive all the same\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e” —\u003ci\u003eMETRO\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“With its two female protagonists separated by more than 2,500 years of history, and its narrative strobing back and forth between them, this novel is ambitious, atmospheric stuff\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e” —\u003ci\u003eBBC HISTORY MAGAZINE\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“An engrossing, seamlessly written deliberation on the enduring power of art” —\u003ci\u003eMAIL ON SUNDAY\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“In this richly imagined novel Cooper's two narratives seem unconnected at first but striking parallels between them soon emerge\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e” —\u003ci\u003eSUNDAY TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Beguiling\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e” —\u003ci\u003eINDEPENDENT ONLINE\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Cooper's trips to Iraq and his historical interests (he hosts the excellent Fall of Civilisations podcast) lend \u003ci\u003eAll Our Broken Idols\u003c\/i\u003e authenticity. The novel underlines the fact that people in Iraq have always suffered – but always fought, too, for their identity and culture; the greatest treasure of all\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e” —\u003ci\u003eOBSERVER\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003cb\u003ePraise for \u003ci\u003eRiver of Ink\u003c\/i\u003e: '\u003c\/b\u003ePotent, beautiful and wholly absorbing, Cooper's portrait of a reluctant revolutionary had me in thrall from its first chapter. A wonderful, memorable debut” —\u003ci\u003eMADELINE MILLER\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Cooper endows his work with persuasive historical accuracy and detail, but the “juice” of his own work is the intensely poetic quality of his prose … There is enough astonishing quality in this first novel for us to hope that Cooper will soon produce another” —\u003ci\u003eINDEPENDENT\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“It isn't easy to write about the past with both a hesitant watchfulness and a calm assurance, to make it vivid and strange and yet also, in a fundamental way, ours, but that's exactly what Paul Cooper has achieved – with considerable aplomb – in \u003ci\u003eRiver of Ink\u003c\/i\u003e” —\u003ci\u003eAMIT CHAUDHURI\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Masterly … A powerful and timely fable about freedom, resistance and the secret might of the weak” —\u003ci\u003eFINANCIAL TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Vivid and compelling” —\u003ci\u003eMAIL ON SUNDAY\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A striking first novel from an author with a rare skill for deploying heavy research with a light touch, for revelling in the seductive possibilities of style without losing sight of narrative drive, and for making profound points while also delivering first-rate entertainment. Paul M. M. Cooper's own pen is certainly a formidable weapon, and it will be exciting to see him wield it again in years to come” —\u003ci\u003eASIAN REVIEW\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“In his first novel, Cooper vividly reconstructs a long-buried society and, creates in Asanka – a coward reluctantly forced into acts of courage – a likeable, multifaceted narrator” —\u003ci\u003eSUNDAY TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A highly accomplished debut: Cooper's writing glides from moments of grace and beauty to pure horror in this enthralling novel” —\u003ci\u003eMAHESH RAO\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eRiver of Ink\u003c\/i\u003e is an outstanding novel from a very talented debut author ... Cooper's name has the potential to become synonymous with historical literature ... He has done something which all good authors must do: he has written a novel that transcends the page and continues to exist in mind of the reader” —\u003ci\u003eNEW WELSH REVIEW\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9781408879405\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"Bloomsbury Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":40710592594126,"sku":"9781408879405","price":27.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/getimage_ff7a9776-1223-4b1d-9405-bb1f5012131e.jpg?v=1640754282","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9781408879405","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}