Traces of a Tattoo

TRACES of a TATTOO

A novel by

Adel Bishtawi

`One of the most important contemporary Arab novelists'


Described as `an odyssey in time and memory' by the highly respected Moroccan literary critic Mohamed Alloutt, Traces of a Tattoo established its author as an influential new voice in Arabic fiction writing. Many literary critics and readers agreed:

`Traces of a Tattoo is a major landmark in modern Arab literature and will consecrate the author as one of the most important contemporary Arab novelists'

Al Quds Al Arabi Newspaper (London)

`Traces of a Tattoo earns one of its distinguished qualities from its scrupulous monitoring of its characters in their silence, speech and movements - in its scrutiny of their reactions...spreading numbness in both body and soul'

Al Hayat Newspaper (London)

`Traces of a Tattoo is no ordinary novel. Evoking the example of giant literary works such as Cities of Salt by Abdulrahman Munif, The Boys of our Neighbourhood by Najib Mahfouz...it is an odyssey in time and memory'

Al Sahraa Newspaper (Morocco)


`One of the most beautiful Arab novels I have read in recent years'

Al Quds Al Arabi Newspaper (London)

`A novel with something of everything...it exercises acute observation of the characters' behaviour and fates, summing it all up in a skilful but lucid dramatization of the complexity that marks the life of a human being'

Al Watan Newspaper (Kuwait)

`Life less Ordinary: Palestinian Arab Polymath A.S. Bishtawi: I have all the time in the world for Adel Said Bishtawi. This Palestinian-born Arab creative polymath has written extraordinary articles, novels and produced documentaries on Muslim and Arab culture around the world...If you haven't read Traces of a Tattoo yet, I recommend you go grab it any way you can'

Anisa Benmoktar, www.lovehabibi.com

Full reviews: www.bishtawi.com