Abdo Khal shines a light on life at the bottom of the heap, in Saudi’s often forgotten villages. His voice blends image-rich poetic classicism with contemporary patois, which makes for an unmistakably Arab mix (The Guardian, UK)

Khal writes vividly and poetically … [a] powerful and deeply troubling book (Sholto Byrnes National)

A novel of politics and faith which proposes something more open-ended and transcendent (Banipal)

A grotesque satire on limitless wealth and the inequalities it spawns, … about a boy from the Jeddah slums who rises as a henchman in a ruthless tycoon’s palace, only to crave salvation for his fallen soul (Maya Jaggi The Guardian, UK)

…a brilliant exploration of the relationship between the individual and the state. Through the eyes of its two-dimensional protagonist, the book gives the reader a taste of the horrifying reality of the excessive world of the palace (Taleb Alrefai (head of the 2010 IPAF judges panel))

Khal’s description is vivid and poetic, and the quality of the translation – as with all books brought out by Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation – is top-notch. (Omar Sharrif Gulf News)

A shocking and satirical novel that explores the devastating effects of limitless wealth.