The Registrar's Manual for Detecting Forced Marriages

(Paperback)

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The compelling and original debut novel from the Costa Prize-shortlisted author of Confession with Blue Horses. Swimming for his life towards traffickers on the Italian shore, Selim enters a world where Kurdish refugees disguise themselves as tomatoes, dates of birth are a matter of opinion, and a residency permit is a ticket to paradise. When he ends up in a small town in Germany, Selim believes he is finally safe, until the law catches up with him and the clock starts ticking. Selim realises there is only one way to avoid deportation... Fifteen years later, in a town hall in Paris, a Registrar receives an unsettling book: 'The Registrar's Manual for Detecting Forced Marriages' fuels her suspicions surrounding an impending Kurdish wedding. She embarks on an investigation that will bring her uncomfortably close to an old acquaintance. Written with real imaginative flair, heart and humour, The Registrar's Manual for Detecting Forced Marriages introduces an unlikely hero who'll prove impossible to forget, and a prodigious new talent in Sophie Hardach.

Reviews

An affecting portrayal of the troubles faced by the displaced and dispossessed seeking refuge in the West * Mail on Sunday *
Imaginative and compelling * Woman & Home *
A lucid debut by a talented writer. Her global sensibility and refreshing style give this novel [...] an original flavour. The story [...] is handled with real delight and authority * Daily Mail *
[A] smart and gripping novel about identity, immigration, love and marriage * Daily Mirror *
Give us five words to describe The Registrar's Manual for Detecting Forced Marriages Kurdish odyssey with Parisian denouement * The List *

Author Bio

Sophie Hardach is the author of three novels, The Registrar's Manual for Detecting Forced Marriages, about Kurdish refugees, Of Love and Other Wars, about pacifists during World War Two, and Confession with Blue Horses, about the repercussions of the division of Germany on the lives of individuals. Also a journalist, she worked as a correspondent for Reuters news agency in Tokyo, Paris and Milan and and has written for a number of publications including the Guardian, BBC Future and The Economist. Her first non-fiction book, Languages Are Good For Us, was published by Head of Zeus in 2021.