Jurji Zaidan

Jurji Zaidan is a Lebanese author who lived from 1861 to 1914. He is most famous for the journal al-Hilal, which he used to promote education and culture, particularly the preservation of Islamic history. His journal is also the means by which he serialized his 23 historical novels. Zaidan's numerous historical fictions, including Fatat Ghassan, each take a particular historically significant event or subject and weave its historical details with a sweeping plot of mystery or romance. The...See more

Jurji Zaidan is a Lebanese author who lived from 1861 to 1914. He is most famous for the journal al-Hilal, which he used to promote education and culture, particularly the preservation of Islamic history. His journal is also the means by which he serialized his 23 historical novels. Zaidan's numerous historical fictions, including Fatat Ghassan, each take a particular historically significant event or subject and weave its historical details with a sweeping plot of mystery or romance. The stories themselves are purely fictional and serve as frameworks for the preservation and retelling of real world history. Many of the names of the characters in this story are based upon real people, but the timelines are often manipulated to facilitate a cohesive story. We sincerely hope that this new translation will reach out to a larger and younger audience to share with them the popular Arabic fiction that is often so scarce in North America. While many of Zaidan's works have been translated across the globe, only five have been officially commissioned in English. The Girl of Ghassan will be the sixth. We encourage you to explore both the real history of these people and the other works written by Zaidan because it was his hope, as it is ours at One Cent Press as well, that by sharing this history we can bridge the gaps between cultures, and find our shared heritage as human beings, regardless of race or religion. See less