Saddam Hussein’s final novella, a ‘forgettable piece of pulp’, to be published in English
Hesperus Press says the book, completed by the late dictator in the run-up to the 2003 Iraq war, is a mix of game of Thrones and House of Cards, and will be published in December under a title yet to be revealed
A novella written by Saddam Hussein, and finished in the lead-up to the 2003 Iraq war, is set to be translated into English for the first time by a UK publisher.
Hesperus Press, an independent publisher that releases books that have gone out of print or have yet to find an English translator, will issue the former Iraqi president’s novella in December, to mark the 10th anniversary of his execution.
Previously published in other languages with titles including Begone Devils and Get Out, You Damned One, the novella focuses on a tribe living by the Euphrates river 1,500 years ago which ousts an invading force. In 2005, The New York Times described it as “a forgettable piece of pulp”.
The manuscript was reportedly carried out of Iraq by Saddam’s daughter, Raghad Saddam Hussein, in 2003. She announced plans to publish the 186-page novel in Jordan in 2005, before it was quickly banned from sale, resulting in multiple bootleg versions appearing. In 2006, Japanese publisher Tokuma Shoten released it under the title Devil’s Dance. It was also translated into Turkish. Hesperus has yet to announce what its English title will be.
A spokesman for Hesperus described the book as “a mix between Game of Thrones and the UK House of Cards-style fiction”, and said it was full of political intrigue, but that the publisher would be “keeping the rest secret until Christmas”.