Книги, похожие на «Brian Aldiss, The Brightfount Diaries»

A brilliant comic novel about love, marriage, parenthood and the million tiny little things that conspire to trip you up on the rocky road to all three.William has a twelve-year-old boss bent on his destruction; the interior design duo from hell re-decorating his bathroom; and an angry ginger midget with a mean right hook on his case.Then there’s the flood.And the village full of Machiavellian nutters.On the plus side, he has as a gorgeous wife and an adorable new son – and he loves them both. It’s just a shame that parenthood doesn’t stop him doing the wrong thing at precisely the wrong time, with catastrophic results for his small – and increasingly exasperated – family.It’s very nearly too much for one man to handle.Correction. It is ENTIRELY too much for one man to handle.And that man is William Walker.

Sicily, 11th century. Nadira is an innocent girl of Berber origins, who lives with submission the impositions of her brother; for examples when he told her that she will have to become one of the wives of the emir of her city. However, his eyes are something strange and bewitching that they attract the attention of more than one pretender. Soon the fame of a curse spreads: men who meet his gaze cannot help but desire and try to have it. The very eyes of Nadira, and that boundless sky that they remember, will be the cause of the outbreak of the last war that the Muslim Sicily will experience. Meanwhile, the de Hauteville brothers, fearsome Norman warriors, are waiting to take advantage of any pretext, so that they can cross the sea in order to begin a crusade against the Moors.”Can there really exist something so extraordinarily irresistible and cursed as to irreparably shake the desires of those who watch it?” Nadira's atypical blue eyes seem to prove that this is the case. Sicily, 11th century. We are in the latest period of Arab domination: the emirs of the main cities of the island are fighting a war between each other and the Christian forces are waiting for an excuse to intervene so as to undertake their holy war against the Muslim enemy. Nadira is an innocent Berber girl who lives with submission the impositions of her brother; like when he told her that she will have to become one of the wives of the emir of her city. However, her eyes are something strange and bewitching that attract the attention of more than one pretender. Soon the fame of a curse spreads: men who meet his gaze cannot help but they desire and try to have it. The very eyes of Nadira, and that boundless sky that they remember, will be the cause of the outbreak of the last war that Muslim Sicily will ever experience. Meanwhile, the de Hauteville brothers, fearsome Norman warriors, are waiting to take advantage of any pretext, so that they can cross the sea in order to begin a crusade against the Moors. Corrado, a Norman too, moves in all of this, but raised among Sicilian Christians. His ambition is boundless and his revenge against Muslim rulers stronger than common sense. Corrado's fate will eventually cross with the ”sky of Nadira” and with the mystery that hides behind the nature of those eyes. But only if he can reveal what binds a man's heart to the desire that subjects him to evil, he will be able to overcome the danger that Nadira's beauty represents. The war is still raging, which has now become a clash of cultures and religions, when the fragile sprout of tolerance begins to emerge from the ground of hatred … hope cured by those who have been able to put their soul's concerns in order. A multicultural setting, a story told from all perspectives, an objective story with a current flavour, a novel that lovers of adventure historical fiction cannot ignore.

A contemporary twist on a classic story of forbidden love, set in Jakarta, capital city of Indonesia.When Vic accepts a teaching position in Jakarta, she has already been working and travelling in Asia for many years; she thinks she knows what to expect. However, before long she becomes troubled by the casual coexistence of vast wealth and woeful poverty, and by the stark differences in freedom and power between the men and the women. It also becomes apparent that there will be no support or companionship from her fellow Westerners and colleagues.Fajar has lived in Jakarta all his life. He gets by, loaning money from friends and family, spending his nights racing, and his days working on the roads as an ojek driver. When he impresses a customer with his understanding of English, he sees an opportunity. He dedicates himself to being the woman’s driver – taking her to and from work, running her errands. He thinks he’s won big.Neither Fajar nor Vic expect to find friendship and solace in their strange arrangement. But, before long, they will step outside the mores of their cultures together, crossing a boundary that will shake both of their lives.