ABOUT THE BOOK

'Wedding by the Sea' is Abdelkader Benali's first novel. In Holland, where it was originally published, it was shortlisted for the equivalent of the Booker Prize and was hailed as the best literary debut of 1996. It has since sold to many publishers around the world and is set to become an international bestseller.

'Wedding by the Sea' tells the story of 20-year-old Lamarat Minar who returns home from Holland to the deserted seaside village of Touarirt to celebrate the wedding of his sister Rebekka to his uncle Mosa. During the festivities, he discovers that his uncle has slipped away; Lamarat's father gives him the task of finding his errant uncle and returning him to his waiting bride. With the help of the all-knowing 'Bucket-of-Bolts' taxi driver, Chalid, and after many u-turns, detours and hairpin bends, Mosa is discovered in the local whorehouse 'Lolita'. Lamarat drags him back to the village by the sea where Rebekka is waiting to administer sweet and gruesome revenge.

A first novel of great exuberance, passion and intensity, 'Wedding by the Sea' creates a wonderfully rich picture of the contrasting worlds and cultural conflicts of East and West. It is immensely entertaining, extremely funny, and marks the arrival of a literary force to be reckoned with.

Abdelkader Benali was born in Ighazzazen, Morocco in 1975 and has lived in the Netherlands since 1979. He won the Best Literary Debut Prize of 1996 in Holland and was shortlisted for the Dutch equivalent of the Booker, the Libris Literatuur Prize. He is currently studying history at Leiden University.