Sea Prayer: The Sunday Times and New York Times Bestseller
£9.50£12.30 (-23%)
A Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller
A deeply moving, gorgeously illustrated short story for people of all ages from the international bestselling author of The Kite Runner, brought to life by Dan Williams’s beautiful illustrations
‘The book may be brief, but it is beautiful, poetic – a distillation of his strengths’ Sunday Times
On a moonlit beach a father cradles his sleeping son as they wait for dawn to break and a boat to arrive. He speaks to his boy of the long summers of his childhood, recalling his grandfather’s house in Syria, the stirring of olive trees in the breeze, the bleating of his grandmother’s goat, the clanking of her cooking pots. And he remembers, too, the bustling city of Homs with its crowded lanes, its mosque and grand souk, in the days before the sky spat bombs and they had to flee.
When the sun rises they and those around them will gather their possessions and embark on a perilous sea journey in search of a new home.
Proceeds from the sale of Sea Prayer will go to The Khaled Hosseini Foundation and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency to help fund life-saving support and build better futures for refugees around the world.
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Additional information
| Publisher | 1st edition (30 Aug. 2018), Bloomsbury Publishing |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Hardcover | 48 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 1526602717 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1526602718 |
| Dimensions | 24.7 x 1.2 x 16 cm |
by Jomc
This is beautifully written and illustrated. As a fan of Khaled Hosseini that is no surprise. This book should be read to pupils in school as a way of explaining the true story of refugees and just MAYBE the next generation will be more welcoming to these unfortunate people.
by katrina price
Lovely little story beautifully illustrated
by Mr C I Kingston
I got the hardback book and after reading all the 2 star reviews about the kindle version thought it can’t be that bad my fears were confirmed when I sat down to read it today on a sunny afternoon.
* Good points – the Idea for a really good story are there with the father remembering the past telling the story to his son and the dangerous Journey to a new life.
* Art work is superb really striking beautiful images.
* BAD POINTS – STORY ENDS UP IN THE AIR. I will not spoil the end but I was left wanting more !
* far to short for the price and even if £1.00 goes to help refugees and it is a good cause, I think what we got could of been a short story in the local paper.
I have given Sea Prayer 3 out of 5 manly because it is for a good cause and I like the idea I was tempted to go for 4 because I do agree with the other reviews. overall very disappointed
by Annika
On 2nd September 2015 an image flashed around the world that saddened and horrified us all. A young boy, later identified as Alan Kurdi, lay motionless on a pristine beach in Turkey, the dawn sun glowing around him. He was dead. During his three young years he knew only war in Syria; a war his parents fled to find safety. The photo of Alan touched everyone and inspired, nay, I would say, drove one famous writer to pen a short book, Sea Prayer.
Within Khaled Hosseini’s Sea Prayer the words and illustrations are intrinsically linked, creating a wondrous work of art.
The first page starts as a letter (quasi-eulogy) to the narrator’s son, Marwan, and it recalls the beauty of life in Homs. The father describes his childhood when he had woken “to the stirrings of olive trees in the breeze/to the bleating of your grandmother’s goat”.
Tender, colourful watercolours by Dan Williams accompany the story. On one page the vibrant red of poppies match the red of his wife’s coat, as she holds her son’s hand wandering through a field.
It’s a time of peace, tranquillity, harmony. In the old city there was “a mosque for us Muslims,/a church for our Christian neighbours,/and a grand souk for us all”.
Soon this life of normality is transformed into one “like some long-dissolved rumour”.
As war approaches the watercolours darken, greys, blacks, browns dominate. These are more powerful than ever, conveying the despair and sense of hopelessness. As the illustrations change, so does the language for a few pages, the short staccato sentences echoing the weapons.
“The skies spitting bombs.
Starvation.
Burials.”
Marwan’s childhood is one where he has learned “dark blood is better news/than bright.” His bathing places are not the idyllic creeks of his father’s youth, rather that of bomb craters. This is not a childhood.
As the family join thousands of other refugees fleeing their country I find myself physically pained, the long march pictured across two pages, no words necessary.
Father and son find themselves on a beach with many others where they stand “in the glow of this three-quarter moon”. Here the father makes his promise: “Nothing bad will happen.”
A hollow promise as the father recognises more than ever “How powerless I am to protect you from it.”
The book ends with the beauty of sunlight across a soft morning beach. A new day, a new beginning, new hope.
Three certainties not afforded to all.
This is a book I’ve read many times, each occasion more tear-eyed than before. It is beautiful, heartbreaking, emotional. It is a testament to the human spirit, to love and compassion within every one of us.
Throughout Khaled Hosseini writes with flair and skill, the poetic prose magically drawing the reader into the story. It’s deceptively simple, almost a lullaby in the gentlest of tones telling the cruellest of truths.
If you come to Sea Prayer expecting a lengthy literary novel such as his brilliant The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns or And The Mountains Echoed you will probably be disappointed.
If you expect to catch the sublime gifted language and story to remember for all time by this renowned author, you are in for a treat.
This is a book that crosses all genres, it’s for children, for adults, for humanity — it’s a precious gift to hold it within one’s hands and heart. Everyone who reads it will be, as I was, humbled by its message told on behalf of all refugees who endure so much but whose voices are seldom heard.
by Elaine band
I have read all of Kaled Hosseinis books and have enjoyed everyone of them but initially I was disappointed when I received Sea Prayer as thought it was a novel how wrong I was. A very touching short book makes me think how very lucky we are not to live in a war torn country.
by Nomad
Having enjoyed Kite Runner and all Hosseini’s other titles I didn’t read the description or reviews of this one. It is essentially a picture book, albeit beautifully illustrated, and very short. In my opinion more suited to children and not at all what I expected.
by Kindle Customer
I read this after finding it on goodness.
I have Khaled Hosseinis other works and I was intrigued.
It is a letter from Father to Son as they wait to make the treacherous journey to Greece, Turkey or France.
The reasons why they are leaving, what they are leaving behind and hopes for their safe journey.
It is beautifully written and illustrated and deserves to be read and then shared.
by Miss Lawrence
I have to agree with the other reviewers, this is not a novel at only around 30/40 pages long, some pages with no writing, others with one sentence and most with a paragraph or three.
I pre-ordered based on being a huge Hosseini fan and foolishly assumed this was another novel – Sadly reviews weren’t available at time of order. Perhaps I shouldn’t have ordered with such haste and made sure I done some research first.
Reluctant to give one star as don’t feel the mis-selling of the product is the fault of this otherwise great author.
Go to a library and read it in 10 minutes instead.