The Sufi Storyteller

by Faiqa Mansab

Overview

In this contemporary murder mystery, an estranged mother and daughter urgently need to reconnect and navigate a world of Sufi story traditions to catch a killer, and to save each other.

There is a dead woman in the library.

Layla is a scholar of women’s histories and stories. Her life is a carefully constructed set of routines in her small American liberal arts college, but all of that is about to change...

Mira is a renowned Sufi storyteller who is running from a terrible past. When she learns that the murdered woman in the library was carrying a note from the killer addressed to her, she is presented with an opportunity to break a cycle of trauma and hurt. To confront her past, she must disclose the truth to Layla.

Together they enter the realm of Story, but can Layla find the forgiveness in her heart necessary to lead them to the answers they are looking for?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781915584526
Publisher:	Neem Tree Press
Publication date:	07/01/2025
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.80(h) x (d)

About the Author

Faiqa Mansab is a Pakistani writer. She holds an MPhil in English Literature, an MFA in Creative Writing with a high distinction from Kingston Universityin London, and an MA in Gender and Cultural Studies from Birkbeck Universityin London. She writers for numerous local and international publications. Her debut novel, This House of Clay and Water, was published to much critical acclaim by Penguin India in 2017, and was longlisted for Getz Pharma Fiction Prize and the German Consulate Peace Prize at the Karachi Literature Festival 2018. It has since been optioned for screen, translated into Turkish by Dedalus Press, and published in audio by Blackstone Publishing USA in 2022. Faiqa lives in Lahore, Pakistan with her family.

Editorial Reviews

"Faiqa Mansab weaves a rich tapestry of stories from the esoteric wisdom of Sufi thought into a contemporary novel of the highest calibre."—Claire Chambers, literary critic, author, and senior lecturer in Global Literature

"opens a window into a world of Eastern folklore, a realm of Sufi teaching stories, intrigue, and interwoven layers of delight"—Tahir Shah, journalist, documentary-maker and author of The Caliph's House: A Year in Casablanca

"Lyrical and compelling in equal measure (...) Mansab remains one of Pakistan's best storytellers."—Awais Khan, award-winning author of Someone Like Her, No Honour and In the Company of Strangers

From the Publisher

02/01/2025

Pakistani writer Mansab's first novel to be published in the U.S. features Layla Rashid, a scholar of Sufi storytelling traditions who was adopted from an orphanage as a child and has spent part of her life trying to find her birth mother. Layla's search has led her to a teaching position at a small college in the American Midwest, where one morning, she finds the dead body of a woman in her office. Even more shocking is that it's the second time this has happened to Layla. As the story unfurls, Layla's quest to solve the two murders intertwines with her search for her birth mother. Sufi fables often convey messages as stories within a story; Layla's expertise could help her find some answers. Though the novel offers an interesting premise, the writing is often bogged down with excessive detail about settings, food, and interactions among characters while leaving out crucial explanations of events. VERDICT Mansab won several awards for her first novel, This House of Clay and Water, published by Penguin India and later released in audio format by Blackstone. Though its pacing leaves something to be desired, libraries with a strong international mystery readership may want to give Mansab's new mystery a try.—Elizabeth Walline

Library Journal