A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar: A Novel

It is 1923. Evangeline (Eva) English and her sister Lizzie are missionaries heading for the ancient city of Kashgar on the Silk Road. Though Lizzie is on fire with her religious calling, Eva's motives are not quite as noble, but with her green bicycle and a commission from a publisher to write A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar, she is ready for adventure. In present day London, a young woman, Frieda, returns from a long trip abroad to find a man sleeping outside her front door. She gives him a blanket and pillow and in the morning finds the bedding neatly folded and an exquisite drawing of a bird with a long feathery tail, some delicate Arabic writing, and a boat made out of a flock of seagulls on her wall. Tayeb, in flight from his Yemeni homeland, befriends Frieda and, when she learns she has inherited the contents of an apartment belonging to a dead woman she has never heard of, they embark on an unexpected journey together. A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar explores the fault lines that appear when traditions from different parts of an increasingly globalized world crash into each other. Beautifully written and peopled by a cast of unforgettable characters, the novel interweaves the stories of Frieda and Eva, gradually revealing the links between them, and the ways in which they each challenge and negotiate the restrictions of their societies as they make their hard-won way towards home.

About the Author :
Suzanne Joinson works in the literature department of the British Council, specializing in the Middle East, North Africa and China. In 2007 she won the New Writing Ventures award for Creative Non-Fiction for Leila Ahmed and has an MA in Creative Writing from Goldsmiths University. She sits on the advisory committee for the Palestinian Writers Workshop and is involved in a grass-roots writer development project with writers from Syria, Yemen, and Palestine. She is writer-in-residence at Shoreham Airport (Arts Council funded). Her personal blog is: http://delicatelittlebirds.wordpress.com/ she tweets at @suzyjoinson and her Shoreham airport blog is: http://shorehambyair.wordpress.com/ Visit her website at www.suzannejoinson.com.

Review :
Joinson... controls her narrative with skill: this is an impressive debut, its prose as lucid and deep as a mountain lake. At its heart, this exquisite novel celebrates the gifts that travel into far-off cultures confers: the displacements that throw into resilient relief our transcendent human connections. An astonishing epic--colonial-era travel combined with a modern meditation on where we belong and how we connect in the world--I could not put it down. A haunting, original, and beautifully written tale that conveys a sense of profound alienation and of other realities. Present and past meld into an exploration of conflicting traditions in an impressive debut.... An intriguing window into the difficulties of those who attempt to reach across cultural barriers. Beautifully written in language too taut, piercing, and smartly observed to be called lyrical, this atmospheric first novel immediately engages, nicely reminding us that odd twists of fate sometimes aren't that odd. Highly recommended. This complex and involving historical novel examines the idea of home, the consequences of exile, the connection between mother and daughter, and the power dynamics of sexual relationships. Suzanne Joinson beckons readers with lush, evocative prose, yet never lets her gift for poetry interfere with a good story-or, to be more precise, two good stories . . . Readers of A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar are certain to enjoy a literary journey that is not unlike the best bicycle ride-invigorating and challenging, with plenty of hills, vales and scenic views to keep one's blood pumping and spirits soaring.