WINNER OF THE JANET HEIGINGER KAFKA PRIZE FOR FICTION “The novel showcases the humanity, tragedy, and complexity of life in the West Bank. . . . The characters’ interwoven lives will stay with you long after the book's denouement.” —Entertainment Weekly “Sacks is an extraordinarily gifted writer whose intelligence, compassion and skill on both the sentence and tension level rise to meet her ambition. She keeps us constantly on edge. . . . City of a Thousand Gates makes a convincing case for a literature of multiplicity, polyphonic and clamorous, abuzz with challenges and contradictions, with no clear answers but a promise to stay alert to the world, in all its peril and vitality.” —Washington Post Brave and bold, this gorgeously written novel introduces a large cast of characters from various backgrounds in a setting where violence is routine and where survival is defined by boundaries, walls, and checkpoints that force people to live and love within and across them. Hamid, a college student, has entered Israeli territory illegally for work. Rushing past soldiers, he bumps into Vera, a German journalist headed to Jerusalem to cover the story of Salem, a Palestinian boy beaten into a coma by a group of revenge-seeking Israeli teenagers. On her way to the hospital, Vera runs in front of a car that barely avoids hitting her. The driver is Ido, a new father traveling with his American wife and their baby. Ido is distracted by thoughts of a young Jewish girl murdered by a terrorist who infiltrated her settlement. Ori, a nineteen-year-old soldier from a nearby settlement, is guarding the checkpoint between Bethlehem and Jerusalem through which Samar—Hamid’s professor—must pass. These multiple strands open this magnificent and haunting novel of present-day Israel and Palestine, following each of these diverse characters as they try to protect what they love. Their interwoven stories reveal complicated, painful truths about life in this conflicted land steeped in hope, love, hatred, terror, and blood on both sides. City of a Thousand Gates brilliantly evokes the universal drives that motivate these individuals to think and act as they do—desires for security, for freedom, for dignity, for the future of one’s children, for land that each of us, no matter who or where we are, recognize and share.

The girl with no past, and no future, may be the only one who can save their lives. Nisha was abandoned at the gates of the City of a Thousand Dolls when she was just a little girl. Now sixteen, she lives on the grounds of the isolated estate, where orphan girls apprentice as musicians, healers, courtesans, and, if the rumors are true, assassins. She makes her way as Matron's errand girl, her closest companions the mysterious cats that trail her shadow. Only when she begins a forbidden flirtation with the city's handsome young courier does she let herself imagine a life outside the walls. Until one by one, girls around her start to die. Before she becomes the next victim, Nisha decides to uncover the secrets that surround the girls' deaths. But by getting involved, Nisha jeopardizes not only her own future in the City of a Thousand Dolls—but also her life.

A novel of great humanity, compassion, and astonishing immediacy, this inventive and unique debut captures the emotional reality of contemporary life in the West Bank and the irreconcilable Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a collage of narrative voices and different viewpoints centered on a particular set of events. Brave and bold, this gorgeously written novel introduces a large cast of characters from various backgrounds in a setting where violence is routine and where survival is defined by boundaries, walls, and checkpoints that force people to live and love within and across them. Hamid, a college student, has entered Israeli territory illegally for work. Rushing past soldiers, he bumps into Vera, a German journalist headed to Jerusalem to cover the story of Salem, a Palestinian boy beaten into a coma by a group of revenge-seeking Israeli teenagers. On her way to the hospital, Vera runs in front of a car that barely avoids hitting her. The driver is Ido, a new father traveling with his American wife and their baby. Ido is distracted by thoughts of a young Jewish girl murdered by a terrorist who infiltrated her settlement. Ori, a nineteen-year-old soldier from a nearby settlement, is guarding the checkpoint between Bethlehem and Jerusalem through which Samar--Hamid's professor--must pass. These multiple strands open this magnificent and haunting novel of present-day Israel and Palestine, following each of these diverse characters as they try to protect what they love. Their interwoven stories reveal complicated, painful truths about life in this conflicted land steeped in hope, love, hatred, terror, and blood on both sides. City of a Thousand Gates brilliantly evokes the universal drives that motivate these individuals to think and act as they do--desires for security, for freedom, for dignity, for the future of one's children, for land that each of us, no matter who or where we are, recognize and share.

A debut love story of 2000s discontent from author and poet Suzannah Showler—for readers of HOW SHOULD A PERSON BE? by Sheila Heti and NORMAL PEOPLE by Sally Rooney. Ferociously in love from the start, Nico and Lydie spent a first year together so beautiful that they've been recreating it, day by day, ever since. Their anniversaries, sometimes elaborate, sometimes small, have become the couple’s entire universe, tethering them to a reality they've built together, collapsing their sense of time. But the real world is creeping in. As the people around them start to get married, get pregnant, get serious, Lydie wonders what it is they're really doing, and why it leaves her so little time to focus on the art she moved to the city to create. Meanwhile, Nico experiences a divine event that convinces him the anniversaries matter more than ever, and in the city around them, the urban wildlife is rising up on a mission of their own. A vivid time capsule from an era of Millennial love, recession discontent, and city garbage strike racoons, Quality Time is about that rare, innocent moment when we feel like masters of our own fate, and what happens when the real world starts to press in from the edges.

"The House of Dust: A Symphony" by Conrad Aiken is a modernist poetic work that explores themes of love, loss, and the transitory nature of life. Published in 1920, Aiken's "The House of Dust" is considered one of the pioneering examples of American modernist poetry. The poem is structured as a symphony, consisting of four movements, each exploring different aspects of the human experience. Aiken employs vivid and often surreal imagery to convey the complexities of emotions and the human psyche. The overarching metaphor of the "House of Dust" suggests the impermanence and fragility of existence. Throughout the symphony, readers may encounter a series of fragmented and abstract images that contribute to the overall impressionistic quality of the work. Aiken's language is characterized by its musicality and rhythm, reflecting the influence of modernist trends in literature during the early 20th century. "The House of Dust" is celebrated for its innovative use of language, form, and symbolism. It invites readers to engage with its evocative verses, challenging them to interpret and derive meaning from the interplay of images and themes. Immerse yourself in the complex and atmospheric world of Conrad Aiken's "The House of Dust" for a unique and thought-provoking poetic experience.