Book excerpt: 'Superbly told' The Times 'Richly imagined' Sunday Times 'An engrossing, seamlessly written deliberation on the enduring power of art' Mail on Sunday Assyria, in the reign of Ashurbanipal. For Aurya and Sharo, every day is a struggle for survival. One evening, everything changes. Soon, they are on the barge of King Ashurbanipal, bound for the city of Nineveh. Their fates become inextricably bound to that of the king – and the injured lion captured by his men. Twenty-six centuries later, British-Iraqi archaeologist Katya joins a dig in Mosul to protect the ancient ruins of Nineveh from looters. But the real world crashes in to their studious idyll when ISIL storm Mosul – and take Katya, Salim and local girl Lola hostage. 'Dual timeline novels often fail: one strand is more interesting than the other, or the links between the two are contrived. Not here. Both stories are superbly told and share the same preoccupation – the coexistence of cruelty and creative beauty' The Times, Historical Novel of the Month