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306 pages, Hardcover
First published July 12, 2016
"He raped me."
"I know," he said. "Like I said. Human."
"It feels reckless and wonderful, as if pouring out the details of my past intimacies to him might make them new again."
"Women create. Men inflict violence on you, envious and fearful, desperate to share in that ability."
Once in a far town called Mumtaz Abad a trio of shapeshifters each from one part of Europe walked past a young Persian woman sitting in a courtyard of a caravanserai!
"I am the monster in your tale."The Devourers is an utterly unique story, a lyrical, dreamlike, all-consuming experience. It's a story within a story, interwoven with metaphor and symbolism. On the most mundane level, it's a story of monsters, of shapeshifters, a story of rape, of what happens after, of how a woman victimized by a monster seeks to regain empowerment. The Devourers spans many eras, but the backbone of the story takes place in modern-day Kolkata, where a jaded historian meets a fascinating stranger with an enthralling tale. The historian undertakes the task of transcribing some ancient manuscripts the mysterious stranger gives him, and these in turn give us the stories of a band of monstrous shapeshifter and the human woman Cyrah. Through the historian's transcriptions, the story of the devourers is told in the voices of maidens and monsters, all set against the lush backdrop of Kolkata:
"A king of wolves in a land of tigers."
"He took what he wanted, with no regard for my opinion on the matter."If you're looking for a gorgeous, multilayered story, a folkloric quest interwoven with existential journeys, then The Devourers is well worth a look.