Saeida Rouass is of Moroccan heritage, born and raised in London. She spent ten years working internationally as a trainer and project manager for various charities and NGOs. She currently works within international development and security with a focus on the Middle East & North Africa, and Morocco in particular.
She is the author of Eighteen Days of Spring in Winter and Assembly of the Dead. She is currently working on Library of Untruths, set in 1912 Fes, when Morocco became a French Protectorate and the sequel to Assembly of the Dead.
‘The Assembly of the Dead is like peering through a keyhole
into Morocco at the turn of the last century. Saeida Rouass
describes Marrakech so vividly that you are instantly transported
into its alleyways and souks; you can almost smell the cinnamon,
saffron and cayenne of the street stalls and hear the donkey carts
and the hypnotic wails of the muezzin. The plot is as labyrinthine
as the layout of the Red City itself. This is a beautiful addition
to the literature of Morocco and a must read for any traveller.’ –
Richard Hamilton, author of The Last Storytellers: Tales from the
Heart of Morocco
‘Saeida Rouass is a brilliant writer, poised at the cultural
crossroads between East and West. As a result, she has the rare and
extraordinary ability to perceive Morocco — the land of her
ancestors — in a way that few from the Western world would ever be
able to match. Just as she can see Morocco as Moroccans themselves
see it, she’s able to describe it in such a way so as to be
absorbed by the Occidental mind. Elegant, thought-provoking,
intriguing, and utterly charming, The Assembly of the Dead
establishes Saeida Rouass as an important writer — one of only a
handful who bridges these two cultures so expertly. I recommend
this book, and any work to which Rouass puts her name.’ – Tahir
Shah, author of The Caliph’s House
‘A heinous crime, a cover-up, Saeida Rouass breathes life into a
grim 1001 Nights tale set in Marrakesh a hundred years ago. In its
depiction of a city caught between famine and terror, The Assembly
of the Dead is more than your typical “whodunit.” Rouass’ carefully
researched psychological and political thriller convincingly
evokes the fraught nature of the times and the tense moment just
before Morocco—the last piece in France’s colonial puzzle—was about
to fall into place. And watching over it all, with
existential sang froid and an unerring commitment to
justice, is Farook, Rouass’ memorable detective from
Tangier. The Assembly of the Dead is a compelling read whose
characters and story remain long after the last page is turned. –
Jonathan Katz, author of Murder In Marrakesh: Emile Mauchamp and
the French Colonial Adventure
Rouass is a dazzling writer, one who bridges East and West in the
most exceptional and unusual way.
*Tahir Shah, Writer and Journalist*
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