The Twice Born

In The Twice-Born, Aatish Taseer embarks on a journey of self-discovery in an intoxicating, unsettling personal reckoning with modern India, where ancient customs collide with the contemporary politics of revivalism and revenge When Aatish Taseer first came to Benares, the spiritual capital of Hinduism, he was eighteen, the Westernized child of an Indian journalist and a Pakistani politician, raised among the intellectual and cultural elite of New Delhi. Nearly two decades later, Taseer leaves his life in Manhattan to go in search of the Brahmins, wanting to understand his own estrangement from India through their ties to tradition. Known as the twice-born—first into the flesh, and again when initiated into their vocation—the Brahmins are a caste devoted to sacred learning. But what Taseer finds in Benares, the holy city of death also known as Varanasi, is a window on an India as internally fractured as his own continent-bridging identity. At every turn, the seductive, homogenizing force of modernity collides with the insistent presence of the past. In a globalized world, to be modern is to renounce India—and yet the tide of nationalism is rising, heralded by cries of “Victory to Mother India!” and an outbreak of anti-Muslim violence. From the narrow streets of the temple town to a Modi rally in Delhi, among the blossoming cotton trees and the bathers and burning corpses of the Ganges, Taseer struggles to reconcile magic with reason, faith in tradition with hope for the future and the brutalities of the caste system, all the while challenging his own myths about himself, his past, and his countries old and new.

This international bestseller is a sweeping portrait of motherhood, loss, and redemption in war-torn Sarajevo. Filled with memories of the four-year siege of Sarajevo, Gemma reluctantly boards a flight from her native Rome to that war-scarred city with her sixteen-year-old son, Pietro. She hopes to teach her son about the city of his birth and about Diego, the father he never knew. Once there Gemma is caught between the present and the past, reliving her love affair with Diego, their determination to start a family, and their deep connection to Sarajevo even as the threat of war loomed. In this haunting and sophisticated novel, Mazzantini masterfully probes the startling emotional territory of what makes a family-particularly what makes a mother. As the fate of Sarajevo converges with Gemma's all-consuming desire to have a child we see how far she is driven, in a stunning revelation that is both heartbreaking and cathartic. Brought to life by an unforgettable cast of characters, Twice Born is a tale of the acts of brutality and generosity that war can inspire. A blockbuster bestseller in Mazzantini's native Italy, it has taken Europe by storm and will soon be published around the world.

When Huy is sent away from his family’s farm to a prestigious school for a chance at a better life as a scribe, he is soon befriended by the family of the local governor. But just as Huy starts to feel at home with his aristocratic new friends, an unexpected attack shockingly takes his life. After five days in a crypt being prepared for his own burial, Huy miraculously revives. His mysterious return to life makes him a pariah, and although he longs to lead a normal life, Huy finds himself haunted by visions of the deaths of those around him. An ingenious and suspenseful novel of ancient Egypt, The Twice Born is a treat for all fans of historical or fantasy fiction.

"A rip-roaring tale...inspired by but not slavish to historical events of the Dark Ages, this book is full of twists and turns...A fast-moving, thoroughly enjoyable yarn." —Kirkus Reviews on King's Man In 1192 A.D., with the Third Crusade over, Richard the Lionheart is headed back home to England, only to be betrayed, captured, and held for ransom. Now with the princes of Europe lining up against him, the fate of the greatest warrior in Christendom lies in the hands of a renegade earl and former outlaw: Robin Hood. The mission is deadly and the enemies are powerful and numerous. But for king and country, Robin and his loyal lieutenant Alan Dale will face great risks—from battles on blood-soaked fields to deadly assassins—in a heroic bid to restore the Lionheart to his rightful throne. Angus Donald has written a brilliant novel of the dark ages, one that brings some of the best-known figures in history to wondrous, vivid life.

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Nimrod Twice Born interweaves the dramatic events of Israel at the time of Jesus Christ with a World War II conspiracy thriller. The skills of a Magician, Simon Magus, win him the favour of the wife of Herod Antipas. The magician initiates a conspiracy so intricate and so far-seeing that it will only reach its climax in our time. Matthias von Ingolstadt leaves the horror of the trenches behind at the close of the World War I and returns to a Germany humiliated by the events that have left the country bankrupt and vulnerable. He meets and falls in love with Anna Lejkin, a Jew. What follows appears to solve their racial differences but ultimately leads to discovery, manipulation and disaster. A Jew in Frankfurt, Germany, Michael Segal is caught up in the events preceding the war. His friendship with Gabriele have far-reaching consequences for them both. Heinrich Himmler, the future SS leader of the Third Reich, forms a relationship with Ernst Rohm a battle-hardened veteran of WWI who has a penchant for young men. He promises Himmler the one thing he most desires - power. Nimrod Twice Born is an intricate story of love, romance, witchcraft, power and intrigue. Lyn J Pickering employs history's trail of circumstantial evidence to combine both Christian conspiracy and historical fiction in one bizarre and riveting package."