OCTOBER 2021 - AudioFile
Narrator Korey Jackson's acting skills burst through one’s headphones or speakers as he narrates this epic work of fiction that could easily be classified as poetry. It tells the story of a boy on an odyssey to find his father in Syria after his family members in Louisiana have all passed away or turned against him. The characters range in age from the youngest of children just learning to talk all the way up to wise, old women, and Jackson creates a unique voice for each of them, thus immersing listeners in this world. This epic journey is best experienced in the audio format as Jackson's melodious voice catches the rhythm of the lyrical language in such a way that it feels musical. A.R.F. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
★ 06/21/2021
New Orleans music industry veteran and Whiting Award winner Edwards (Oscar Wilde Discovers America) returns after almost two decades with an ambitious globe-trotting epic as luscious and musical as the city he calls home. The tale takes readers from the Crescent City to Istanbul and finally to the war-torn city of Aleppo, as the eponymous hero searches for his father with an old letter found in a convenience store as his only clue. In between, Ramadan bonds with his grandmother, basks in the beauty of the Mississippi River, survives Hurricane Katrina, and makes countless friends in the Middle East by bonding over basketball, hip-hop, and other bits of Americana that appeal to young men across the world. Ramadan’s resilience, quick wit, and steadfast spirit render him something of a 21st-century update on the characters of Dickens and Twain. Edwards, meanwhile, is a rare writer of deep, paternal wisdom, who can find the deeply, upliftingly spiritual element of nearly everything. (Even a potato chip can be as ecstatically powerful as those “symbolic bodies of Christ” that are offered at communion.) This will have readers enthralled with the beauty of life, despite all its tragedies and sorrows. Agent: Joy Harris, the Joy Harris Literary Agency. (Aug.)
From the Publisher
One antidote to the darkness, I have found, is a warm, hopeful novel. Louis Edwards has written such a book with his latest, “Ramadan Ramsey” . . . Edwards, a critically acclaimed writer who has received both a Guggenheim fellowship and a Whiting Award, hasn’t published a book-length work in nearly two decades. His new book was worth the wait.” — New York Times Book Review
“An immediate global classic, Ramadan Ramsey joins the ranks of Sula, Oliver Twist, and Moll Flanders, as a tale named for a character that invites readers into a world both hyper-local and universal. New Orleans has never been more vivid on the page.” — Alice Randall, author of Black Bottom Saints
“Ramadan’s resilience, quick wit, and steadfast spirit render him something of a 21st-century update on the characters of Dickens and Twain. . . . This will have readers enthralled with the beauty of life, despite all its tragedies and sorrows.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“A young Southern boy travels to the Middle East to find his father in this delightful and intimate modern epic. . . . A novel that is as exhilarating as it is moving; a fine achievement.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Returning to fiction after a long hiatus, Edwards masterfully conveys the sights, smells, and tastes of each setting from the Ninth Ward to Istanbul and Aleppo. Surrounding Ramadan with a Dickensian array of churchgoers, fortune tellers, and hustlers as well as a kind-hearted Turkish cabdriver and Middle Eastern teens obsessed with American sports and music, Edwards vividly dramatizes every turn in his hero's quest to discover who he is.” — Booklist (starred review)
“Ramadan Ramsey is a rollicking and exhilarating novel.” — Minneapolis Star Tribune
Booklist (starred review)
Returning to fiction after a long hiatus, Edwards masterfully conveys the sights, smells, and tastes of each setting from the Ninth Ward to Istanbul and Aleppo. Surrounding Ramadan with a Dickensian array of churchgoers, fortune tellers, and hustlers as well as a kind-hearted Turkish cabdriver and Middle Eastern teens obsessed with American sports and music, Edwards vividly dramatizes every turn in his hero's quest to discover who he is.
New York Times Book Review
One antidote to the darkness, I have found, is a warm, hopeful novel. Louis Edwards has written such a book with his latest, “Ramadan Ramsey” . . . Edwards, a critically acclaimed writer who has received both a Guggenheim fellowship and a Whiting Award, hasn’t published a book-length work in nearly two decades. His new book was worth the wait.
Alice Randall
An immediate global classic, Ramadan Ramsey joins the ranks of Sula, Oliver Twist, and Moll Flanders, as a tale named for a character that invites readers into a world both hyper-local and universal. New Orleans has never been more vivid on the page.
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Ramadan Ramsey is a rollicking and exhilarating novel.”
OCTOBER 2021 - AudioFile
Narrator Korey Jackson's acting skills burst through one’s headphones or speakers as he narrates this epic work of fiction that could easily be classified as poetry. It tells the story of a boy on an odyssey to find his father in Syria after his family members in Louisiana have all passed away or turned against him. The characters range in age from the youngest of children just learning to talk all the way up to wise, old women, and Jackson creates a unique voice for each of them, thus immersing listeners in this world. This epic journey is best experienced in the audio format as Jackson's melodious voice catches the rhythm of the lyrical language in such a way that it feels musical. A.R.F. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2021-06-16
A young Southern boy travels to the Middle East to find his father in this delightful and intimate modern epic.
Guggenheim fellow and Whiting Award winner Edwards harnesses the best of his storytelling powers to tell the tale of Ramadan Ramsey, a young boy who is at once blessed with the fierce love and protection of his maternal grandmother, Mama Joon, and whose privileged place in her heart sparks the enmity of the rest of his family. The novel begins in 1999, when Mustafa Totah, a Syrian immigrant in New Orleans, takes a job at his uncle Adad’s convenience store. There, he meets Alicia Ramsey, a Black native of the city who beguiles him into breaking his Ramadan fast before sunset one day. Their love affair provokes the ire of uncle Adad, who informs Mustafa's family in Syria and sends him back. Unbeknownst to Mustafa, however, Alicia is pregnant with his child, whom she names Ramadan in an attempt to atone for having coaxed his father into breaking religious laws. Tragedy strikes again when Alicia dies of meningitis, leaving Ramadan under the guardianship of her mother, Mama Joon, who lavishes him with affection and, much to the chagrin of her eldest daughter, Clarissa, plans to bequeath him everything she owns, including her house. When Mama Joon dies, 12-year-old Ramadan decides to flee the wrath of the envious Clarissa and her vicious sons, traveling to the Middle East to find his father. Borrowing from the episodic structure of epic tales, the novel sustains a swift pace that only picks up momentum as it advances. The narrative voice is highly engaging, often combining humor and pathos in a single sentence so that even tragic events are imbued with lightness.
A novel that is as exhilarating as it is moving; a fine achievement.
