Azazeel by Youssef Ziedan

In this haunting and controversial English-language debut, Youssef Ziedan confronts issues as vital today as they were one and a half millennia ago. Set in the fifth century ad, Azazeel is the beautifully written tale of a Coptic monk’s journey from Upper Egypt to Alexandria and then Syria during a time of turmoil in Christianity. At times able to resist temptation and at others yielding to the strengths of his desire, he learns that lust and enlightenment can be two sides of the same coin. Azazeel, which won the 2009 International Prize for Arabic Fiction, is a novel that forces us to rethink many of our long-held beliefs and invites us to rediscover a lost history.