Edward Parr
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Genre: Historical Fiction
Release Date: October 1, 2025
Buy Link: Amazon
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BLURB
Tamanrasset: Crossroads of the Nomad is a novel set at the beginning of the 20th Century on the fringes of the Sahara, when the people living on the edges of the desert did not know what was out there and when European nations were only the most recent world powers to exploit the region. It's the story of how four lives become entwined: A mature Foreign Legionnaire who has made his home in the harsh life of France's desert fortresses; the young Arab son of the Sharif that leads the tribes in the western Sahara fighting to protect his family; an ambitious American archeologist in charge of the excavations at Carthage; and a young Swedish widow in Fez who adopts Islam in order to earn a place for herself there. Each of them suffers a crisis which isolates them from their community, and it is only through the chance intersection of their lives that they become bound together and eventually influence a world that stands on the brink of extinction. Like his prior novels, particularly his trilogy of World War I adventures based on early espionage fiction, Edward Parr's Tamanrasset: Crossroads of the Nomad recalls the classic pulp fiction adventures of the French Foreign Legion while telling a new story that takes place against a backdrop of real historical events in Morocco and Algeria in the years 1900 to 1908. It's is a novel about loss and alienation and the fragile, often transitory bonds that tie people together.
AUTHOR GUEST POST
The Origin of My New Novel
A few years ago I began looking at novels written in the early 1900’s thinking to compliment the First World War trilogy I had previously written, and I immediately discovered the many terrific action-adventure stories written about the French Foreign Legion set in the tumultuous areas of northern Africa of that time period. While I was drawn to the format, I did not want to write anything pro-colonialist or anti-Muslim – biases which are deeply embedded in many of the stories written in that time period. Instead I wanted to write a novel based on the hard facts we now know, that colonialism was doom to failure, that generations of war would follow, that good guys were not all good, but the bad guys were also not so good. Research on that time period turned out to be pretty difficult. Much of the primary source materials are written in French, for example. I also knew that I wanted to include Muslim characters but I didn’t think I could do so without a basic understanding of the practice of Islam. And then I had to figure out what drew me to the era and what events were relevant to the novel I wanted to write. It took me several years to prepare to begin writing, but I think all that preparation shows in the final result.
Tamanrasset: Crossroads of the Nomad is my attempt to tell a story that reflects the amazing place and time of those classic pulp fiction stories but with the benefit of what we know now about what would happen there, treating all the characters and their beliefs with respect, and based on the actual events that occurred in that region. In the story, the lives of four protagonists become entwined: A mature Foreign Legionnaire who has made a home for himself in the harsh life of France’s desert fortresses; the young Arab son of the Sharif that leads the tribes in the western Sahara fighting to protect their families; an ambitious American archeologist in charge of the excavations at Carthage; and a young Swedish widow in Fez who adopts Islam in order to earn a place for herself in the community there. Each of them suffers a crisis which isolates them – death, betrayal, murder and the struggle with one’s weaknesses – and it is only through the chance intersection of their lives that they become bound to each other and come to influence a world that stands on the brink of vanishing. It’s is a novel about loss and alienation and the fragile, often transitory bonds that tie people together. The story, I hope, reflects something of a world of ancient mysteries that was erased forever.
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EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT
The Sun had not yet risen above the ruins of the Mechouar Palace, but at the mosque nearby many Muslim people of the city of Tlemcen were already at their morning prayer. It was a great privilege to be admitted to one of the oldest mosques in Algeria, over eight hundred years old, and an even greater privilege to be allowed to pray before the mihrab there among the great white columns that lined the enormous hall. As the prayers ended, there was a gentle rustling of movement as the faithful rose and exited to the open and airy marble-tiled courtyard of the mosque, still quiet in the twilight of dawn. Isabel retrieved her leather boots and exited a side door beneath the shadow of the towering brick minaret. Covered by her tightly drawn dark brown burnouse, khaki pants, white shirt, and a black hijab, Isabel walked along the great stone wall to the main gate of the palace. The few buildings in the complex that were still usable had been made into offices for the French army, but the pool and gardens of the central courtyard were peaceful and shadowy. She passed an alcove that featured Islamic calligraphy carved into the stucco, and Isabel stopped to read it: “Allah is God, there is no god but He: the King.”
A quiet voice behind her asked: “Madame Pedersen?”
She turned to find a short, elegantly dressed French officer approaching her. His flat-topped white hair was soldierly, but his crisp, tailored uniform, polished boots, and wide waxed mustache displayed a carefully composed appearance.
“Peace be with you,” she said, casting her eyes downward and crossing her arm over her chest as she nodded.
“Peace be with you, Madame. I apologize if I disturbed you; will you come inside?”
“As you wish.”
She followed the French colonel to a charming wood-paneled room overlooking an orchard of citrus trees bearing large green fruit. The colonel sat on a bare wood chair beside a wide wooden table, crossed his legs, and twirled the end of his wide mustache. Isabel stood silently before him in a respectful posture.
“I have the greatest respect for your beliefs, my dear, but it would be helpful to me if you would sit and speak to me informally. Would you be so kind?”
“Of course,” she said and she sat on the chair beside his. Her demeanor now expressed more of her experience and self-assurance, her hijab more a symbol of her confidence than of her humility. The colonel raised an eyebrow in appreciation of her serene face and brilliant blue eyes.
© 2025 by Edward Parr and Edwardian Press (New Orleans, Louisiana)
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Edward (“Ted”) Parr studied playwriting at New York University in the 1980’s, worked with artists Robert Wilson, Anne Bogart, and the Bread and Puppet Theater, and staged his own plays Off-Off-Broadway, including Trask, Mythographia, Jason and Medea, Rising and an original translation of Oedipus Rex before pursuing a lengthy career in the law and public service. He published his Kingdoms Fall trilogy of World War One espionage adventure novels which were collectively awarded Best First Novel and Best Historical Fiction Novel by Literary Classics in 2016. He has always had a strong interest in expanding narrative forms, and in his novel writing, he explores older genres of fiction (like the pulp fiction French Foreign Legion adventures or early espionage fiction) as inspiration to examine historical periods of transformation. His main writing inspirations are Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Bernard Cornwell, Georges Surdez, and Patrick O’Brien.
Socials:
Website: https://edwardparrbooks.com/
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GIVEAWAY
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Thank you so much for featuring TAMANRASSET today.
ReplyDeleteThe research had to be fascinating (in response to your guest post answer).
ReplyDelete