{"product_id":"9780815612018","title":"The Raven of Ruwi and Other Stories from Oman by Jokha Alharthi","description":"In this lyrical collection, Omani author Hamoud Saud invites readers into the soul of Muscat, the capital city of Oman, a country famed for its long coastline, rugged mountains, and stark desert landscapes. This geography provides the backdrop for stories that reveal both the beauty and hardship of a country and people on the margins. Saud's Muscat is not a postcard-perfect city but a living, breathing place of cement forests, forgotten roundabouts, and ravens perched on bank flagpoles. In \"The Raven of Ruwi,\" a narrator wanders the city's commercial district where Indian music drifts from balconies and the streets are filled with weary bank workers. In \"The Sad Donkey of Muscat,\" a blind man recounts the city's history as told to him by a donkey. And in \"Post Office of the Dead,\" a forgotten postmaster receives letters from Dostoevsky and Kafka, triggering a surreal unraveling of time and identity. These stories are fabulist in spirit but grounded in the textures of everyday life: the scent of karak tea, the chatter of schoolgirls, the heat rising from asphalt. At once intimate and  expansive, The Raven of Ruwi and Other Stories from Oman is a powerful  meditation on place, identity, and the stories that cities tell.\u003cbr\u003eBinding: Paperback \/ softback","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56368213459317,"sku":"9780815612018","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780815612018.jpg?v=1763548884","url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/products\/9780815612018","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}