Join us

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Newsletter

Mahir Guven

Older Brother

Cover: Older Brother - Mahir Guven

Mahir Guven

Older Brother

2019, pp. 256, e-Book
ISBN: 9781609455507
Translated by: Tina Kover
Region: France
Paper edition Paper edition Paper edition
$ 10.99
READ NOW READ NOW READ NOW

The book

Older Brother is the poignant story of a Franco-Syrian family whose father and two sons try to integrate themselves into a society that doesn’t offer them many opportunities.

The father, an atheist communist who moved from Syria to France for his studies and stayed for love, has worked for decades driving a taxi to support his family. The eldest son is a driver for an app-based car service, which comically puts him at odds with his father, whose very livelihood is threatened by this new generation of disruptors. The younger son, shy and serious, works as a nurse in a French hospital. Jaded by the regular rejections he encounters in French society, he decides to join a Muslim humanitarian organization to help wounded civilians in the war in Syria. But when he stops sending news home, the silence begins to eat away at his father and brother who wonder what his real motivations were. When younger brother returns home, he has changed. Guven alternates between an ironic take on contemporary society and the gravity of terrorist threats. He explores with equal poignancy the lives of “Uberized” workers and actors in the global jihad.

“In this powerful first novel, written in evocative language, Mahir Guven tells a story from within the very heart of our society, beset by the demons of Uberization and terrorism.”—Le courier de l’Atlas

“Truly noteworthy. Guven’s fine humor and excellent storytelling are on full display.”—Nathalie Iris, Mots en marge bookstore, France

The author

Mahir Guven
Mahir Guven was born in 1986 in Nantes, the stateless child of refugees, his mother from Turkey and his Kurdish father from Iraq. He grew up with his grandmother between the city and vineyards. Older Brother, his first novel, was awarded the Goncourt First Novel Prize in 2018.

Press

From the same country

  • Cover: Living with our Dead - Delphine Horvilleur

    Delphine Horvilleur

    Living with our Dead

    2023, pp. 144, $ 22.00
    WINNER OF THE 2021 BABELIO PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION A timely, powerful reflection on our relationship to death and an invitation to accept...
  • Cover: Belle Greene - Alexandra Lapierre

    Alexandra Lapierre

    Belle Greene

    2023, pp. 496, $ 18.95
    Based on the true story of Belle da Costa Greene, a woman who defied all odds to carve out a destiny of her own choosing, this is a richly imagined...
  • Cover: The Wind Rises Book 1 of The Alma Series - Timothée de Fombelle

    Timothée de Fombelle

    The Wind Rises
    Book 1 of The Alma Series

    2023, pp. 400, $ 12.95
    FROM THE BESTSELLING WINNER OF THE PRIX SORCIÈRES From Europe to Africa to the Caribbean, this first installment in the Alma trilogy tells...
  • Cover: Paradises Lost - Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt

    Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt

    Paradises Lost

    2023, pp. , $ 27.00
    The beginning of a unique adventure, the tremendous challenge of recounting the history of humanity.
  • Cover: The Postcard - Anne Berest

    Anne Berest

    The Postcard

    2023, pp. 464, $ 28.00
    Brilliantly told, Anne Berest’s luminous, moving, and unforgettable new book The Postcard is the most acclaimed and beloved French novel in...
  • Cover: Three - Valérie Perrin

    Valérie Perrin

    Three

    2023, pp. 560, $ 18.95
    From the international bestselling author of Fresh Water for Flowers, a masterly crafted and suspenseful story about the ties between friends...

More suggestions

  • Cover: Belle Greene - Alexandra Lapierre

    Alexandra Lapierre

    Belle Greene

    2023, pp. 496, $ 18.95
    Based on the true story of Belle da Costa Greene, a woman who defied all odds to carve out a destiny of her own choosing, this is a richly imagined...
  • Cover: Mrs. S - K Patrick

    K Patrick

    Mrs. S

    2023, pp. 240, $ 18.00
    A sublime and sensual debut novel exploring the nature of queer love and attraction, the transformative power of desire, and the dissonance between...
  • Cover: The Road to Dalton - Shannon Bowring

    Shannon Bowring

    The Road to Dalton

    2023, pp. 250, $ 18.00
    From debut author Shannon Bowring comes a novel of small town America that Pulitzer-winner Richard Russo calls, “measured, wise, and beautiful”.
  • Cover: The House on Via Gemito - Domenico Starnone

    Domenico Starnone

    The House on Via Gemito

    2023, pp. 480, $ 27.00
    Available in English for the first time, this extraordinary prize-winning novel confirms Domenico Starnone’s reputation as one of Italy’s greatest...
  • Cover: All the Lovers in the Night - Mieko Kawakami

    Mieko Kawakami

    All the Lovers in the Night

    2023, pp. 224, $ 17.95
    Bestselling author of Breasts and Eggs Mieko Kawakami invites readers back into her immediately recognizable fictional world with this new, extraordinary...
  • Cover: Barbara Isn’t Dying - Alina Bronsky

    Alina Bronsky

    Barbara Isn’t Dying

    2023, pp. 192, $ 17.00
    A bittersweet and hilarious novel about a marriage whose decades-old routine is suddenly upended.

Join Our Newsletter and receive a FREE eBook!

Stay updated on Europa’s forthcoming releases, author tours and major news.

Are you a bookseller? Click here!

Are you a librarian? Click here!

X