Michel Faber

Enjoy more Sugar . . . Join Clara at the rat pit . . . Relax with Mr Bodley as he is lulled to sleep by Mrs Tremain and her girls . . . Find out what became of Sophie.

Theo Griepenkerl, a Canadian linguistics scholar, is sent to Iraq in search of artifacts that have survived the destruction and looting of the war. While visiting a museum in Mosul, he finds nine papyrus scrolls tucked in the belly of a bas-relief sculpture: they have been perfectly preserved for more than two …