Set against the backdrop of the collapsing Ottoman Empire, Birds Without Wings traces the fortunes of one small community in south-west Anatolia - a town in which Christian and Muslim lives and traditions have co-existed peacefully for centuries.
When war is declared and the outside world intrudes, the twin scourges of religion and nationalism lead to forced marches and massacres, and the peaceful fabric of life is destroyed. Birds Without Wings is a novel about the personal and political costs of war, and about love: between men and women; between friends; between those who are driven to be enemies; and between Philothei, a Christian girl of legendary beauty, and Ibrahim the Goatherd, who has courted her since infancy. Epic in sweep, intoxicating in its sensual detail, it is an enchanting masterpiece.
'A mesmerising patchwork of horror, humour and humanity' Independent
Imprint: Vintage Digital
Published: 30/11/2011
ISBN: 9781448113828
Length: 640 Pages
RRP: £9.99
A more ambitious novel than Captain Corelli, and a better one
A mesmerising patchwork of horror, humour and humanity
A magnificent, poetic, colossal novel... Superbly written... It is, in every sense, a sublime book
His most serious and ambitious achievement to date
Pleasurable... Like Steinbeck, de Bernières deserves praise for his imaginative sympathy