Synopsis

Recently-bereaved Zuleikha MacBeth (Zulie) wades into the Clyde one morning and recovers a large box, with which she becomes obsessed. The discovery of the box brings her together with Alex, a lute-playing clerk, and they manage to open the box - only to find six further boxes inside which they can only open once they have followed cryptic clues. The clues lead Zulie and Alex on a physical and emotional journey modulated through music across Glasgow, Argyllshire, Lincolnshire, Sicily, Lahore, and finally the frozen peaks of the 'Roof of the World'.

Zulie, a troubled doctor, finds herself sucked into the vortex of the terminally ill Archie MacPherson, an ambivalent, visionary ex-WW2 airman and Glasgow shipyard worker. In the manner of a lord of misrule, Archie's dying consciousness begins to shape and ultimately define Zuleikha and Alex's quest as they progress through the seven Sufi stations of sacrifice, truth, power, obedience, life, memory and beauty. Drawing on a wide framework of cultural and spiritual reference, this is an extraordinary and ambitious novel with a visceral sensuality and subtle touches of magical realism, in the vein of Okri, Murakami and Pamuk.

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