The Stone Woman

I love Tariq Ali's writing - beautiful descriptions - transporting and informative. I have read two others of the quintet so far, and must say this is one one i enjoyed the least - not sure it conveyed the 'era' quite as effectively as the first two. But still a thoroughly good read.

My favourite of the series. well paced and characters that you believe in

I ordered the full quintet of Tariq Ali’s novels - thoroughly enjoyed the first two. Was looking forward to starting The Stone Woman but on thumbing through my copy of the novel I discovered that after the first page of chapter 22 the rest of the pages were from another book!The forth one of the quintet Night of the Golden Butterfly 🥸So now I’m returning this copy in the hope that the replacement would be a complete book.

A friend recommended this book, and i am so pleased that she did. What a novel i am absolutely swayed by it. Stone Woman my first of Tariq Ali, but certainly not the last. I read with initial resistance, but was lured to it from the first page. Mystically he draws the attention with the words which encapsulates the reader as a silent observer witnessing the developments in the palace of Pasha. One is drawn away from present times and transcends to the era of Ottomon empire's decadence.I found the characters in this narration to have immense depth, which is delieved in part by confessions. Confessions are made to a small rock resembling a pagan goddess. Secrets are divulged to the goddess which sheds a light on the mental and emotional state of the character. Another luring aspect of this novel are the discussions by the characters. Rational, religion, philosophy and the creation of the future republic to be carved from Ottomon Empire are debated.The narration has an expanse of seduction, rebellion, confessions, betrayal, rational, arguments, religion, treachery and conspiracy. It is to these reasons i find the text rich in prose.