Skip to the content

I Sweep The Sun Off Rooftops

At the intersection of tradition and modernity, East and West, childhood and adulthood, Hanan al-Shaykh's characters find their way through the shifting and ambiguous power relationships that shape the landscape of the modern Arab world. A woman feigns insanity to escape from an empty marriage, only to have her plans backfire a young Danish missionary finds herself slowly and inexorably drawn into the world of the Yemeni village where she has been stationed and a woman's lighthearted attempt to contact the world of the dead turns serious when she encounters the spirit of her late husband. At once clever and evocative, I SWEEP THE SUN OFF ROOFTOPS is a collection of great insight, wit and poignancy, placing Hanan al-Shaykh among the foremost cosmopolitan writers of our time.

'Stunning ... laced with pathos, insight, and gentle humour ... a provocative glimpse into the multifaceted complexion of the modern Arab world'.
Booklist
Agent: Zoë Waldie
Territories: Bloomsbury: British Commonwealth ex Canada Doubleday: USA and Canada Dutch: De Geus (Holland) French: Actes Sud (France) Hebrew: Andalus Publishing House Norwegian: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag ASA Spanish: Editorial Planeta SA (Spain)