TAMANRASSET
Crossroads of the Nomad
by
Edward Parr
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Historical Fiction
Publisher: Edwardian Press
Publication Date: October 1, 2025
Page count: 544 pages
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SYNOPSIS:
TAMANRASSET is historical fiction set on the
edge of the Sahara as the ancient world begins to fade and great empires
collide. Four strangers—a mature Foreign Legionnaire, a Sharif’s wrathful son,
an ambitious American archaeologist, and an abandoned Swedish widow—become
adrift and isolated, but when their paths intersect, the fragile connections
between them tell a story of survival and fate on the edge of the abyss.
Blending the sweep of classic adventure with the horror of a great historical
calamities, Edward Parr’s TAMANRASSET is a saga about the crossroads
where nomads meet.
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READ AN EXCERPT:
The Sun had not yet risen above the ruins of the Mechouar Palace, but at
the mosque nearby many Muslim people of the city of Tlemcen were already at
their morning prayer. It was a great privilege to be admitted to one of the
oldest mosques in Algeria, over eight hundred years old, and an even greater
privilege to be allowed to pray before the mihrab there among the great white
columns that lined the enormous hall. As the prayers ended, there was a gentle
rustling of movement as the faithful rose and exited to the open and airy
marble-tiled courtyard of the mosque, still quiet in the twilight of dawn.
Isabel retrieved her leather boots and exited a side door beneath the shadow of
the towering brick minaret. Covered by her tightly drawn dark brown burnouse, khaki
pants, white shirt, and a black hijab, Isabel walked along the great stone wall
to the main gate of the palace. The few buildings in the complex that were
still usable had been made into offices for the French army, but the pool and
gardens of the central courtyard were peaceful and shadowy. She passed an
alcove that featured Islamic calligraphy carved into the stucco, and Isabel
stopped to read it: “Allah is God, there is no god but He: the King.”
A quiet voice behind her asked: “Madame Pedersen?”
She turned to find a short, elegantly dressed French officer approaching
her. His flat-topped white hair was soldierly, but his crisp, tailored uniform,
polished boots, and wide waxed mustache displayed a carefully composed
appearance.
“Peace be with you,” she said, casting her eyes downward and crossing her
arm over her chest as she nodded.
“Peace be with you, Madame. I apologize if I disturbed you; will you come
inside?”
“As you wish.”
She followed the French colonel to a charming wood-paneled room
overlooking an orchard of citrus trees bearing large green fruit. The colonel
sat on a bare wood chair beside a wide wooden table, crossed his legs, and
twirled the end of his wide mustache. Isabel stood silently before him in a
respectful posture.
“I have the greatest respect for your beliefs, my dear, but it would be
helpful to me if you would sit and speak to me informally. Would you be so
kind?”
“Of course,” she said and she sat on the chair beside his. Her demeanor
now expressed more of her experience and self-assurance, her hijab more a
symbol of her confidence than of her humility. The colonel raised an eyebrow in
appreciation of her serene face and brilliant blue eyes.
© 2025 by Edward Parr and Edwardian Press (New Orleans, Louisiana)
AUTHOR GUEST POST:
Please welcome Edward Parr, the author of today's featured to book, to the blog to give us some interesting insight into the life of an author. Ted tackles a common question he encounters while promoting his work.
What
Question Do You Like Least?
One
of the hardest questions I find to answer when talking about my writing projects
is “what is it about?" Now, this is a question that can be answered
various ways for different people: my new novel, for example, is about 535
pages. It’s also about the Sahara or north Africa generally at the turn of the
20th century; and it’s about a French Foreign Legionnaire, his Arab
enemy, a Swedish woman, and an archeologist. Sometimes a more detailed plot
synopsis is required. But sometimes I still get the response; “no, no, I mean, what’s
it really about, what does it mean?” And, here, we begin to wade
into the murky waters of knowledge, emotion, experience, and message.
Clearly, by writing, I am in the
first place trying to put into words some thoughts or feelings or express
something. But when I’ve written a work of fiction, do I myself know what the
story is “really” about? Of course, it’s possible I do not: unconsciously, the
story may say or reveal or represent something of which I myself am unaware,
kind of like a Freudian Slip. But while that’s certainly possible, I think it’s
pretty unlikely: Part of the job of the writer, part of the process of writing
during the months or years spent working on a novel is to develop a full understanding
of what the work is “really” about. I personally selected every single word
used. I know where each word came from. I know which words were inspired by
specific moments or specific people in my own life and how. Personally, I find
that this understanding is incomplete when the writing is begun and may even
remain incomplete when the first draft is completed. However, I would not say I
was done writing until I knew what the work was really about and how well every
element of the story fulfilled the object of expressing that meaning.
But “knowing” doesn’t necessarily
mean that I can or want to compress my understanding into some easily
digestible summary. After all, I just spent 535 pages trying to express my
meaning, my thoughts and feelings, and my human experience. I’m not especially
interested in compressing that into a nugget of “Truth” for you. Just consider,
from where did my need to create the work arise in the first place? That need
arose from things I’ve been thinking about, things I’ve been feeling, maybe things
I’ve been brooding about for years, things I’m outraged by, things that drive
me crazy or inspire me, maybe things from a specific time and place in history.
Those are all things I put into the writing, and I went to that trouble
because I want to share them with you. I’m not writing for myself – I’m writing
for an audience.
In the end, if you want to know
what the work means, you have to read (or see it or hear it) it for yourself. There
is absolutely no reason on Earth why you should care what I think it’s
“really” about. What does it mean to you? What did you get out of it,
what did you learn, what did it make you think about? What I’ve put out there
now belongs to you, the reader. It’s not my place to judge what you like or
don’t like, what you got from it or did not. Your reaction is unique. Let me quote a very thoughtful performer
who, to my way of thinking, expressed something wonderful about the arts: “I
believe that when some piece of art is deeply meaningful to a person, for
whatever reason, that art doesn’t belong to the person who created it, if it
ever did. It belongs to the person who found something meaningful in the art.”
That was something actor Wil Wheaton said in response to a question about
whether it was possible to still love a work of art created by someone who is
later revealed to be a bad person. But I think the sentiment is true in a more
general context. I wrote my book for you, and despite my intentions it will
mean whatever it ultimately does mean to anyone who reads it – maybe nothing,
maybe something. It’s yours now, not mine (except in the copyright sense, of
course; that’s still mine).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Edward
(“Ted”) Parr studied playwriting at New York University in the 1980’s, worked
with artists Robert Wilson, Anne Bogart, and the Bread and Puppet Theater, and
staged his own plays Off-Off-Broadway, including Trask, Mythographia, Jason and
Medea, Rising and an original translation of Oedipus Rex before pursuing a
lengthy career in the law and public service. He published his Kingdoms Fall
trilogy of World War One espionage adventure novels which were collectively
awarded Best First Novel and Best Historical Fiction Novel by Literary Classics
in 2016. He has always had a strong interest in expanding narrative forms, and
in his novel writing, he explores older genres of fiction (like the pulp
fiction French Foreign Legion adventures or early espionage fiction) as
inspiration to examine historical periods of transformation. His main writing
inspirations are Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Bernard Cornwell, Georges
Surdez, and Patrick O’Brien.
GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY!
One
randomly chosen winner will win a $25 Amazon/BN.com gift card.
We appreciate you hosting TAMANRASSET today.
ReplyDeleteHey, thanks so much for giving me a chance to post on your terrific blog today. I'll come back around to answer any questions left here in the comments. I also want to note that the eBook edition of Tamanrasset is now available, but the hardcover is offline for a couple days (I submitted a revised cover) but it'll be back soon.
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome! And thanks for the update!
ReplyDelete