The Edinburgh International Book Festival is one of the largest and most dynamic book festivals in the world. This year Nathalie Abi-Ezzi and her novel A GIRL MADE OF DUST have been selected for the Festival's New Voices list from a selection of the finest new writing from around the world. Other writers on the list are Petina Gappah, Gil Adamson and Jason Donald.

'Abi-Ezzi's captivating tale about three generations of one family living through the 1980s Lebanese civil war is based on personal history and told from the perspective of Ruba, its youngest member…. A subtle, pertinent depiction of civilian life in the midst of bewildering conflict.'

-- Catherine Taylor, The Guardian

A GIRL MADE OF DUST was shortlisted for the Author's Club Best First Novel Award 2008, and is on the Waverton Good Reads Longlist. Published in the UK by Fourth Estate, rights have also been sold in several countries around the world, including to Random in Canada and Grove Atlantic in the US. Translation rights are sold in Germany, Holland, Italy, Lithuania and Spain.

More praise for A GIRL MADE OF DUST:

'I adored A GIRL MADE OF DUST. It touched my heart in so many ways. When I picked it up to read I was compelled to finish - I could not put it down. It was at once tender and tragic and Nathalie wonderfully evoked that transient aspect of childhood where everything is possible. It is a book that begs to be re read. The first time I rushed through to get to the end and the second time I slowed down to more fully appreciate the lovely language and authentic setting that Nathalie created. A Girl Made of Dust is one of those books you can't help but think about long after you finish. A truly remarkable story.'

-- Patricia Wood author of LOTTERY

'Nathalie Abi-Ezzi was born in Lebanon in 1972. The civil war and Israeli invasion forced her family to flee to London 11 years later. Her well-crafted first novel offers a moving insight into that brutal conflict.'

-- Melissa McClements, Financial Times

'Her endeavour for perfection is as clear as the presence of her exceptional talent. She describes the world of her characters with a sharp eye for the slightest detail.'

-- Jad El Hage, Al-Hayat (translated from the Arabic)

Link to more details on Nathalie Abi-Ezzi here.

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