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The Stone Woman

A Novel
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( 871 ratings, 73 reviews)
Brief Description
Istanbul, 1899. The last great Islamic empire is in serious trouble. The family of Iskender Pasha, an Ottoman notable, has retired to its summer palace. Then a former tutor poses a question which the family has been refusing to confront for almost a century: "Your Ottoman... Read More
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The third part in the internationally acclaimed Islamic Quintet

The third part in the internationally acclaimed Islamic Quintet

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Istanbul, 1899. The last great Islamic empire is in serious trouble. The family of Iskender Pasha, an Ottoman notable, has retired to its summer palace.

Then a former tutor poses a question which the family has been refusing to confront for almost a century: "Your Ottoman Empire is like a drunken prostitute, neither knowing nor caring who will take her next. Do I exaggerate, Memed?"

This passionate story of jealousies, betrayals, and vendettas charts the decay of the Empire and the rise of a new generation deeply hostile to the myths of the 'golden days.' The power of the Islam Quintet lies both in its storytelling and its challenge against stereotyped images of life under Islam.

Series: The Islam Quintet

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    Tariq Ali tells us the story of the aftermath of the fall of Granada by narrating a family sage of those who tried to survive after the collapse of their world. Ali is particularly deft at evoking what life must have been like for those doomed inhabitants, besieged on all sides by intolerant Christendom. "This is a novel that have...
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  • Night of the Golden Butterfly
    Night of the Golden Butterfly concludes the Islam Quintetβ€”Tariq Ali’s much lauded series of historical novels, over twenty years in the writing, which has been translated into a dozen languages. Completing an epic panorama that began in fifteenth-century Moorish Spain, the concluding novel moves between the cities of the twenty-first century, from Lahore to London, from Paris to Beijing. The...
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  • The Stone Woman
    Istanbul, 1899. The last great Islamic empire is in serious trouble. The family of Iskender Pasha, an Ottoman notable, has retired to its summer palace. Then a former tutor poses a question which the family has been refusing to confront for almost a century: "Your Ottoman Empire is like a drunken prostitute, neither knowing nor caring who will take her...
    Paperback
    $3499
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • A Sultan in Palermo
    The fourth novel in Tariq Ali's 'Islam Quintet' charts the life and loves of the medieval cartographer Muhammed al-Idrisi. Torn between his close friendship with the sultan and his friends who are leaving the island or plotting a resistance to Norman rule, Idrisi finds temporary solace in the harem; but his conscience is troubled... A Sultan in Palermo is a...
    Paperback
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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781836743736

Publisher: Verso Books

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 10 February 2026

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Verso Books

Edition: New edition

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 18.0mm

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 241g

Pages: 288

About the Author

Tariq Ali is a writer and filmmaker. He has written more than a dozen books on world history and politicsβ€”including Pirates of the Caribbean, Bush in Babylon, The Clash of Fundamentalisms and The Obama Syndromeβ€”as well as five novels in his Islam Quintet series and scripts for the stage and screen. He is an editor of the New Left Review and lives in London.

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