A story of forbidden love set against the background of Arabic culture and endless feuds between clans. Now available for the first time in English, an international bestseller translated by the award-winning Anthea Bell, that has sold over 370,000 copies worldwide. A dead man hangs from the portal of St Paul's Chapel in Damascus. He was a Muslim officer - and he was murdered. But when Detective Barudi sets out to interrogate the man's mysterious widow, the Secret Service takes the case away from him. Barudi continues to investigate clandestinely and discovers the murderer's motive: it is a blood feud between the Mustak and Shahin clans, reaching back to the beginnings of the 20th century. And, linked to it, a love story that can have no happy ending, for reconciliation has no place within the old tribal structures. THE DARK SIDE OF LOVE is a novel which spans a century of Syrian history in which politics and religion continue to torment an entire people, while at the same time the stories from three generations tell of the courage of lovers who risk death sooner than deny their passions.

A heartfelt tribute to the author's hometown Damascus and a great and moving hymn to the power of love.