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'This story came to me and entered my soul. It did not need a key or an invite, for it already belonged. It walked in, shook my foundation and set my heart on fire. We danced around the flames and with every twirl, I grabbed a few words until I was burnt to ashes.
'Tishtar runs a small legal practice in Melbourne where he has a new client, Habiba, who seeks to bring her orphan nieces to Australia from war-torn Somalia. He is also a migrant, having left the civil unrest in Iran to find a new life in a new country.
'As Tishtar becomes consumed with Habiba’s tales of war-torn Somalia, his own childhood memories return and he reflects on the time he spent at his grandmother’s house to escape the atrocitities that led up to the Islamic Revolution. While at his grandmother’s house he comes to know Gretel, another lost soul who has experienced a community torn apart by division. Tishtar embarks on a journey in search of peace – for Habiba, for Gretel, for himself.
'Spanning continents and centuries, Forty Nights is a tale of the ongoing effects of dispossession and dislocation – a struggle humankind has faced long into its past. Ultimately it is the story of finding home, wherever that might be.'
Notes
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Author's note: For my beloved Maman, for giving me the gift of literature and the courage to write.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Sound recording.
Works about this Work
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Books Roundup
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: Kill Your Darlings [Online] , July 2022;
— Review of Big Beautiful Female Theory 2020 single work autobiography ; Enclave 2022 single work novel ; Holy Woman : A Divine Adventure 2022 single work autobiography ; Forty Nights 2022 single work novel -
The Best New Books Released in July as Selected by Avid Readers and Critics
2022
single work
column
— Appears in: ABC News [Online] , August 2022;
-
Books Roundup
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: Kill Your Darlings [Online] , July 2022;
— Review of Big Beautiful Female Theory 2020 single work autobiography ; Enclave 2022 single work novel ; Holy Woman : A Divine Adventure 2022 single work autobiography ; Forty Nights 2022 single work novel -
The Best New Books Released in July as Selected by Avid Readers and Critics
2022
single work
column
— Appears in: ABC News [Online] , August 2022;
Awards
- 2023 longlisted Miles Franklin Literary Award