From the award-winning author of Ishmael’s Oranges comes a searing novel set in Africa, with a Graham Greene-esque moral conflict at its heart

From the award-winning author of Ishmael’s Oranges comes a searing novel with a profound moral conflict at its heart.

When a heart attack kills his father, young architect Nick abandons his comfortable London life to volunteer abroad for a year – a last chance to prove himself, and atone for old sins.

But in a remote village on the edge of the Sahara, dangerous currents soon engulf him: a simmering family conflict, hidden violence and dangerous fanaticism. An illicit attraction to his host’s lonely wife soon threatens both of their worlds. But when a deadly drought descends it brings an irrevocable choice: should he take matters into his own hands? Or let fate run its course? His decision has life-changing consequences for them all.   

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'It is a potent reminder of the fragility of solutions developed without context.'

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‘Hajaj offers a…hopeful vision of how people from different worlds can find common ground.’

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‘Claire Hajaj follows her Middle Eastern-set debut, Ishmael’s Oranges, with the engrossing story of Nick, an architect who, after the sudden death of his father, leaves his fiancée in London to help build a children’s hospital in an unspecified village in the Sahara…inspired by the dilemmas she faced as an aid worker for the UN…it engages as a parable of a Westerner who, trying to do the right thing, finds that perhaps there is no right thing to be done.’

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‘Claire Hajaj writes with compassion and insight and her characters are rounded and believable... The Water Thief amply fulfils the promise of her debut novel and confirms that here is a writer who can invoke passion and intellect with equal and satisfying facility.’

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‘I finished The Water Thief with tears in my eyes. It’s the story of so many Westerners who find meaning and purpose working in developing countries; who fall in love with a place and its people; who try so hard to make things better; and whose efforts can have tragic, unintended consequences.’

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‘A deceptively simple story that addresses many of the problems facing western African nations…drought, corruption, politics, questionable charitable interventions…and wraps it all in a very human story of love and loss.’

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‘An unpredictable and compelling work that will generate many conversations.’

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‘This book completely tore my heart open and made me take a hard look at my own life... The characters in this book will long live in my heart and memory. This has to be one of the most thought-provoking, soul searching books I’ve ever read...exquisitely written, intense and profound.’

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‘Claire Hajaj [tells her story] with intensity and a deep sensitivity towards people, and all their strengths and shortcomings.’

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‘A profound Africa adventure.’

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‘The Water Thief by Claire Hajaj improves the world.’