Passarola Rising

Azhar Abidi

Dis 2006 · Kuthengiswe ngu-Penguin

Mayelana nale ebook

In the year 1731, Alexandre Lourenco watches as his brother Bartolomeu’s airship, the Passarola, ascends from the ramparts of St. Jorge’s Castle in Lisbon. When the brothers board the ship, they embark on a journey that will take them from the salons and bordellos of Enlightenment Paris to the desolate far reaches of the North Pole, in search of scientific truth and knowledge. As they encounter such characters as the loquacious Voltaire and the irascible King Stanislaus of Poland, and attempt to escape Russian enemy fire and the condemnation of Portugal’s Cardinal Conti, Alexandre hopes to find his calling in life, while his brother keeps his eyes on the Passarola’s next horizon.

A delightful picaresque tale filled with evocative period detail, Azhar Abidi’s debut is not only a story of adventure and suspense, but a thoughtful book on the nature of truth, and a heartfelt portrait of the relationship between brothers.

Mayelana nomlobi

Azhar Abidi was born in Pakistan and lives in Melbourne, Australia. The author of Passarola Rising and The House of Bilquis, his work has been published in The Guardian Weekly, the Australian literary journal Meanjin, and in The Best Australian Essays 2004.