Gurgen Marharis controversial novel, Burning Orchards, is set in the Ottoman city of Van, Eastern Anatolia, during the period leading up to the Armenian rebellion of 1915 and relates the epic story of the events which culminated in the catastrophe of the following years, wonderfully told by one of the great writers emerging from Soviet Armenia.
Written with an abiding humanity, Maharis characters are portrayed as complex and flawed - neither hero nor villain but keenly observed and evoked with a tender humour. Burning Orchards offers a version of events leading up to the siege of Van...