The Sufi Storyteller By Faiqa Mansab Liberty Publishing ISBN: 978-6277626679 343pp.  

As the beliefs and rituals of Sufism move beyond esoteric theory and practice to the layman’s domain, contemporary art and literature explore their impact on everyday life. Faiqa Mansab’s The Sufi Storyteller builds upon this trend.

The book is a thriller at one level and an introduction to Sufi lore at another. The gradual build-up of events and characters drives the dramatic suspense, while Sufi traditions retain their place at the core of the narration.

The central protagonists of the story are two women. Layla Rashid, the first one to step into the tale, is an academic at a liberal arts university in the US, where she teaches courses on storytelling with an emphasis on Sufi tradition. The other woman is Mira Heshmat, a well-known academic who has published books on Sufism and is regarded as an authority on the subject. Both women have led troubled lives and their devotion to the Sufi doctrine is an attempt to transcend their pain and move towards the attainment of inner peace.

The book is divided into three sections. The first, ‘The Beginning of the End’, sets the stage for the events that follow. It begins with a bang, as Layla walks into her university office/library to find the corpse of a woman spreadeagled on the floor. We learn that Layla had confronted a similar situation in the past, and this macabre repetition is not likely to be a sheer coincidence.

A novel........

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