Woodwind Harmony in the Nighttime

Winner of the inaugural Mo Habib Translation Prize in Persian Literature, Reza Ghassemi’s darkly comic and subtly provocative novel of life among the exiled and expatriated.

Iranian exile Yadollah is barely scraping by in 1990s Paris. He lives in a run-down attic apartment with his friend Seyyed, and his girlfriend Ra’na. It’s an all too common situation—their apartment building houses a cast of eccentric neighbors, most of them fellow down-on-their-luck exiles from all over the world. When a mysterious new neighbor arrives on the scene, a man who ominously goes by the name of Prophet, Yadollah and his friends’ world is turned upside down.

Yadollah suddenly finds himself confronted by the Islamic angels of death, and realizes that he must untangle the mystery of his own murder, which occurred at some unknown point after Prophet’s arrival. Suspenseful, yet darkly humorous, Woodwind Harmony In The Nighttime explores the trauma of displacement, and challenges readers to piece together the story of a life shattered by exile.

Contributor: Michelle Quay (Translated by), Porochista Khakpour (Introduction by)

Translator: Michelle Quay

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