The Kingdom of this Earth
Hoda Barakat
The novel begins in the 1920s and ends on the brink of the Lebanese civil war in the 1970s. The Al-Mazuqiya family live on the heights of northern Lebanon surrounded by magical legends and the popular history of their region, where the Maronites fortify themselves against their many enemies. Wars have passed through this region, shaking the whole country during the twentieth century. Despite great changes in their daily lives, the members of this family have lived on the margins of society and have been unaffected by the sufferings around them.
The Kingdom of this Earth is not a historical novel and its characters' lives are not representative ones. Through their simple pleasures and rugged existence, their moments of fun and their many illusions, they reflect the innocence of the ignorant, that which will not remain as it is.
Nomination
2013 Longlist
Hoda Barakat
Country of origin Lebanon
About the author
Hoda Barakat is a Lebanese novelist, who was born in Beirut in 1952. She has worked in teaching and journalism and currently lives in France. She has published six novels, two plays, a book of short stories and a book of memoirs, as well as contributing to books written in French. Her work has been translated into a number of languages. She received the ‘Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres’ in 2002 and the ‘Chevalier de l’Ordre du Mérite National’ in 2008.