The Cleansing of Mahommed by Chris McCourt

Book Description

Secondhand. Good condition. Wear to book corners and edges. Pages are sunned. Interior and binding are still very good.

Gool Mahommed worships Allah and Lifebuoy soap. In 1914, the young Afghan returns to Broken Hill, five years after he was sent back to his homeland by his mentor, Abdullah. A camel driver and mullah, Abdullah has learned through bitter experience that the edge of the Australian outback is not the place to be a foreigner.

But Mahommed won't be discouraged - he has dreams of embracing all the habits of the quintessential English gentleman and, one day, owning a prosperous submarine shipping line.

Alice Mercer, born and bred in Broken Hill, yearns for a new life somewhere more exotic. When she and Mahommed first cross paths, they are immediately drawn to one another. But the prejudice of others soon causes tensions between them, not to mention the outbreak of World War I.

When a series of cruel acts against Mahommed and Abdullah drives them to despair, what follows is unthinkable ... (Back cover)

Based on a true story. On New Year's Day in 1915, in the mining town of Broken Hill, in New South Wales, two Muslim cameleers opened fire on the annual picnic train as it travelled from Broken Hill to Silverton. Four people were killed and seven were wounded in the attack. Police later killed the two Muslim men. Notes written by the men were later found, suggesting they were angry about Australia's involvement in the British assault on Turkey. (ABC)