Publication of Adel Bishtawi's English edition of a favourite novel

PRESS RELEASE

Sweeping epic examines transition, transformation and fighting conflicts both external and within while following one couple’s path to destiny in engaging new saga

It’s the mid-1970s, and over the course of the next decade, the brutal civil war years in Lebanon will come to see their final days. When readers meet Ali, a soldier coping with the recent death of his best friend and contemplating suicide himself, Bishtawi’s protagonist is defeated; haunted by heavy memories, he travels to Abu Dhabi in hopes of starting a new life.

Abu Dhabi doesn’t take away Ali’s loneliness and depression, but a chance meeting with Rana, a girl he had known in Lebanon, will prove to be the real catalyst that Ali needs to turn things around. No stranger to the atrocities of their war-torn homeland and trapped in a web of dangerous gang activity; Rana is in real need of help. Can Ali provide it, and can the two draw upon their own inner strength to overcome death and find the roses on the other side? Find out in Times of Death and Roses, an expertly drawn character study with multi-layered elements of psychological analysis. Simultaneously broad in scope and fearless in its approach to sensitive subject matter, this unique new novel gets gritty and personal on a whole new level with a memorable hero and heroine who will touch the hearts of readers from all walks of life.

About the Author: Adel Bishtawi was born in Nazareth in 1945. He read English Literature at Damascus University and attended a course in Linguistics at the Central London Polytechnic. A journalist since the late 1960s, Bishtawi became Front Page Editor of London’s Al Arab Newspaper, the first pan-Arab Newspaper launched in Europe. Furthermore, he is cofounder of two of the most important Arabic newspapers in London - Asharq Al Awsat and Al-Hayat. For nearly seven years, Bishtawi served as the Central Managing Editor of the Emirates News Agency in Abu Dhabi. Over the last 30 years, Bishtawi has published hundreds of articles and interviews in Arabic and English, as well as several fiction and non-fiction works. A leading expert on Arabic history and culture, he appears regularly on TV shows and participates in conferences and seminars on history, literature, religion, economy and current affairs. Bishtawi currently lives in Pembroke, Malta, with his wife and two sons and is the author of Origin of the Arabic Numerals and Traces of a Tattoo (also published by AuthorHouse).

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