The skilfully interwoven tale of two journeys - one to Cairo, the other into the heart of a disillusioned man.
This is the true story of Werner Munzinger, who in 1852 set out to abolish slavery in Africa, whilst his father remained in their hometown of Olten, Switzerland, where he progressed from bourgeois revolutionary to Minister of Finance.
Werner Munzinger sets out for Cairo and the Red Sea as a trader and explorer, travelling into the inhospitable mountains of Abyssinia, towards the legendary source of the Nile. He marries and becomes a farmer, takes part in wars and becomes involved in intrigues, and in the end finds himself unwittingly a wealthy, powerful and highly respected man. At the same time, this is also the story of Max Mohn, a reporter from Olten, who is dissatisfied with his life in the provinces and sets out 150 years later to see what traces of Werner Munzinger Pasha he can find in the desert sands.
Press Comments:
"Skilfully playing with clichés, Capus interweaves the narrative threads of his debut novel with irony and social criticism, depicting the interior and exterior worlds of the present day and the past with such astounding finesse that the reader is suddenly struck with the realisation that he has managed to transform his story into a work of literature." Der Spiegel
"This debut novel is a hit" Weltwoche
"Without question - a real discovery" Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Alex Capus was born in France and studied history and philosophy in Basle. He has published several novels and volumes of short stories. This is his debut, first published in 1997.
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