The First Century After Beatrice

By (author) Maalouf Amin
Short description/annotation
Mysterious beans are found on the market stalls of the East, to which ancient superstition lends the power of favouring the birth of male children. When a French entomologist obtains a few of these beans, he worries that the world has entered a critical phase of its history.
Description

A French entomologist, attending a symposium in Cairo, finds a cruious kind of bean being on a market stall. It is claimed the beans, derived from the scarab beetle, have magic powers; specifically the power to guarantee the brith of a male infant - and when the entomologist does some research in to the matter, discovering the incidence of female birth has become increasingly rare, he is left in no doubt that the world has entered intoa critical phase of its history.

As this beloved daughter Beatrice approaches maturity, the entomologist and his partner question the validity of gender bias, and attempt to redress the growing imbalance before it reaches irreversible proportions. But in the poverty and famine of the South, where male children can mean the difference between survival and starvation, the popularity of the scarab beans is already taking devastating effect.

Review quote
If someone is going to tell a story about the end of the world, we can glean some comfort from the fact that it is told in a voice as refined and delightful as Amin Maalouf''s - Independent on Sunday
Biographical note
international edition of the leading Beirut daily an-Nahar, and editor in chief of Jeune Afrique. He lives in Paris with his wife and three children.