Passage

A short novel with a wide canvas: a long-simmering love triangle, set in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, from the Booker-longlisted novelist and travel writer.

Kathleen lies awake in the operating theatre as she undergoes a craniotomy, her husband Robert watching the terrifying procedure. Shortly after, the couple leave for a final trip, an ill-advised holiday to Egypt, with Robert’s brother Alan in tow. Each of them is aware that the tumour in Kathleen’s brain is likely to kill her.

In the tombs - powerful symbols of the passage beyond death - Robert and Kathleen are drawn to remember what is long past. Tensions grow as Kathleen befriends Ashraf, their Egyptian guide. Yet Ashraf is also navigating his way through his modern country – and, as each character grapples with the weight of the past, and the future to come, a decision is made that will lead to profound and shattering consequences.