Despite the Falling Snow [Import] [Paperback]

Shamim Sarif (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Headline Book Publishing; Export Ed edition (2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0755320158
• ISBN-13: 978-0755320158
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,568,117 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Writer/director Shamim Sarif is one of the rare renaissance women of recent years. She is an equally successful author (the Pendleton May First Novel Award, Betty Trask Award), screenwriter and film director (World Cinema Best Director at Phoenix Film Festival, and Best Director at Clip (Tampa) Intl. Film Festival). She is an author of several published short stories and notable music lyrics, has script-edited a children's TV series and directed music videos. Shamim received an Afterellen.com 2008 VISIBLITY AWARD as "International Lesbian/Bi Woman of the Year".

An acclaimed novelist, Shamim has deep roots in South Africa, where her parents and grandparents were born and raised - a heritage that inspired her first, award-winning novel, The World Unseen.

The World Unseen won the Pendleton May First Novel Award, and then the prestigious Betty Trask Award. It was selected for inclusion at all the major UK book festivals, including Hay-on-Wye, Cheltenham and Edinburgh and sold out of its initial print runs.

Johannesburg's leading newspaper, The Star, voted the book one of their books of the year. The Times in London called it "an impressive debut. Sarif's story brings together the descriptive power of the novelist with the screenwriter's mastery of dialogue."

Her second novel, Despite the Falling Snow' was published in London by Hodder Headline in May 2004 and received overwhelmingly excellent reviews. In the autumn of 2005, the novel was released by American publisher St Martin's Press. Shamim has adapted this moving tale set in cold war Russia and present day United States into a screenplay.

Shamim began her studies in directing at Raindance in London. Her recently published novel I Can't Think Straight served as an inspiration for her directorial debut of the same name. An urban romantic comedy based on Shamim's script and starring Lisa Ray and Sheetal Sheth, the movie follows the improbable love affair between two women of very differing cultures. Reviewed by CherryGrrl recently as 'a brilliantly executed, romantic, sexy, and heart-warming page-turner.'

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable love and spy story!, November 27, 2010

By 

Denise Escamilla Ortiz "catslord" (Mexico City, Mexico) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Despite The Falling Snow (Paperback)

This has been such a great book to read. I practically read it in one sitting. The backdrop for this story is the 1950's Russia. It gives us a good idea of what living in a totalitarian state was like. And it even comes short to what it truly was like I assume. It's full of suspense, and you put together the puzzle with every other chapter.

The pace is right on, the travel in time back and forth works nicely for the story, and the story is really good. I could really connect with the main characters emotionally and intellectually. It is a beautiful love story from cover to cover, with a spy agenda of course. It's an interesting ride through the twisted and pleasurable roads of love, with some detours into less pleasurable emotions such as hate, guilt, and betrayal, as well as a glimpse into relationships in general.

It's great to see what this man, Alexander, makes out of his life even as an older man, despite of his losses and pain. And Katya, whom the whole story revolves around, is truly an intriguing character. She's seductive, secretive and mysterious, and yet very human. I loved it!