FEAST OR FAMINE

And the Mountains Echoed  by Khaled Hosseini (2013) is the author’s third book after his best-sellers  The Kite Runner  (2003) and  A Thousand Splendid Suns  (2007). This novel is partially set in Afghanistan, the author’s birth country, from 1949 to 2010.   In 1952, Abdullah is ten years old and he is the protector and carer of his three-year-old sister Pari since their mother died. The brother and sister are inseparable: ‘It was a mystery. I have never seen such affinity between two beings,’ says one of the nine narrators of their story.    From a rural area, their poverty-stricken father Saboor takes Pari to the capital Kabul to sell her to a childless couple. Abdullah is determined not to be parted from his sister. But they are parted and lead very different lives in very different countries.    Finally, in California, more than 50 years later, they reunite in a poignant last chapter.    This is a story about love – of fami...

  In Saint-Sulpice Square in Paris, on the sidewalk, outside  Les Maisons du Voyage , is a presentation of world renown photographer Brent Stirton’s work as part of the second edition of the Social and Environmental Biennial Climate Photo exhibition called ‘Save from Extinction.’ It runs from 14 September to 15 October 2023.   France’s  Le Figaro  magazine and  Les Maisons du Voyage  –  The House of Travel  – joined forces to raise public awareness of the beauties of our natural heritage to honour Brent Stirton’s photographic reportage.   It shows photographs of gorillas, elephants, and the pangolin. Telling the story of the erosion of biodiversity, and the disappearance of animal species is ‘a driving force’ for Brent Stirton. He says, ‘It makes me angry and makes me more determined to make images that people will react to.’   Brent Stirton was born in South Africa in 1969. Now based in New York, he is a senior photographer for Get...

  L’ éclosion  is an art exhibition in the Town Hall of the 6 th  arrondissement in Paris from 20 September to 7 October 2023.  L’ éclosion  presents a sublimation of the plant world by the artist, Eugénie Foucaud, which she say is ‘a poetic tribute to its diversity.’   Eugénie Foucaud, bo rn in 1995, lives and works in Paris. A graduate of the Boulle College, she studied ornamental engraving. Her first solo exhibition was in March 2022, called  Songes (Dreams)  in the heart of the Marais in Paris. In June 2022, she published her first art book, retracing her career and inspirations.   Her main artistic medium is brass, which she engraves and gilds to create contemporary works of art, experimenting with format, and the play of light and movement. She is interested in the relationship between mankind and nature.    MARTINA NICOLLS MartinaNicollsWebsite    I     Rainy Day Healing    I    Martina...