Death Is Hard Work

<b>"Searing . . . Khalifa is a soulful and perfectly unsentimental writer . . . The most amazing thing about this book is that it managed to exist, that it came to us out of the fire with its pages intact." Hisham Matar, <i>Guardian</i></b><br><br><i>Death Is Hard Work</i> is a tale of three people embarking on an absurd quest - an unforgettable journey into a contemporary heart of darkness.<br><br>At a hospital in Damascus, Syria, Abdel Latif's final wish is to be buried in the family plot near Aleppo - just a two-hour drive away. Bolbol, his youngest son, persuades his estranged brother and sister to accompany him and their father's body to the ancestral village. But Syria is a war zone, and the trials that confront the family on their journey will have enormous consequences for them all.<br><b></b><br><b>A <i>GUARDIAN</i> BOOK OF THE YEAR</b><br><b>WINNER OF THE SAIF GHOBASH BANIPAL PRIZE</b><br><b>A FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS IN TRANSLATED LITERATURE</b><br><b>A FINALIST FOR THE PREMIO GREGOR VON REZZORI AWARD</b> <b>"Searing . . . Khalifa is a soulful and perfectly unsentimental writer . . . The most amazing thing about this book is that it managed to exist, that it came to us out of the fire with its pages intact." Hisham Matar, <i>Guardian</i></b><br><br><i>Death Is Hard Work</i> is a tale of three people embarking on an absurd quest - an unforgettable journey into a contemporary heart of darkness.<br><br>At a hospital in Damascus, Syria, Abdel Latif's final wish is to be buried in the family plot near Aleppo - just a two-hour drive away. Bolbol, his youngest son, persuades his estranged brother and sister to accompany him and their father's body to the ancestral village. But Syria is a war zone, and the trials that confront the family on their journey will have enormous consequences for them all.<br><b></b><br><b>A <i>GUARDIAN</i> BOOK OF THE YEAR</b><br><b>WINNER OF THE SAIF GHOBASH BANIPAL PRIZE</b><br><b>A FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS IN TRANSLATED LITERATURE</b><br><b>A FINALIST FOR THE PREMIO GREGOR VON REZZORI AWARD</b>