‘In this high-octane, clamorous first novel, an Irishman domiciled in Cairo’s hair-raising scrapes tie both Agatha Christie and Graham Greene to a rocket - and send them off rambling on mighty whirligig wanderings. Within these pages the city pulses with life, the serpentine alleyways and tunnels promise paradise and perdition - maybe both simultaneously. A riotous, humorous, careering and life-affirming story, The End Of Sleep introduces and brand-new voice. This Stamboul Train rattles powerfully to its conclusion and is a hymn to life and world in which it’s set. But you’ll never drink tea in rumpled linen again’
Patrick McCabe
"Somerville's novel is a raucous, brilliantly funny ride through Arab culture and the colourful streets of Cairo".
SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY
"A heady adventure tale"
The Shortlist
“Everything about Somerville's debut made me hungry: hungry to visit Cairo, but above all hungry for whatever this author chooses to serve up next"
SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
A comic mystery, The End of Sleep is a brisk page-turner from Rowan Somerville.
GQ
“In this madcap picaresque, we follow Fin, an Irish journalist, as he spends a day in the streets of Cairo pursuing a story of buried treasure that he believes will restore his floundering career at an English-language newspaper there. Fin seeks a “pacy linear narrative with obvious and satisfying climaxes,” but Somerville leads us, instead, down numerous back alleys and side streets, with frequent breaks for mint tea. The best moments are those of unbridled irreverence, such as when Fin, who is conversant only in “gastronomical Arabic,” becomes “inappropriately passionate” on the subject of the perfect kebab (the secret ingredient is thyme), or when we are told that the desert air is “so pure you can smell the farts of the camels.” Fin’s surreal experiences amid Cairo’s chaos are a vivid reminder of the challenges inherent in encountering the foreign, and the rewards of “not only learning to accept, but inhabit” difference.”
THE NEW YORKER