Contains one chapter The Effects of Hashish

This is a collection of Moroccan stories, fables and portraits gathered together by Hughes and told with great affection for the country and its people. They date from the late 1920´s and early 1930´s when Hughes visited and lived in Morocco. His connection with the recently medieval country dominated by the Atlas mountains had an extra dimension - his uncle was the Times newspaper correspondent in Tangiers between 1887 and 1933 and was extraordinarily well connected and respected. The stories first came to life as articles for newspapers and scripts for radio, but were gathered together, along with unpublished manuscripts, from the estate of Richard Hughes by Richard Poole in 1978.

There is a lovely balance of voices in these stories, between the dry narration and the fabulous tales told to him, between the mystic and the pragmatic, the past and the present. The stories are generally quite short and can be read independently. They are perfect for reading aloud; there is a sweetness and intensity there; even more so in the briefest of them. The publishers suggest that they stand comparison with the Tales of the Arabian Nights. But it seems to me that writing is most reminiscent of Conrad, if he had traveled the deserts rather than the oceans. It is something in the way that Conrad pitches the sensible narrator (and reader) into situations, where there is just a hint of something unearthly around the corner - or behind the veil of the ordinary world. Highly recommended. ( )