A GUIDE FOR THE PERPLEXED

A thrilling new novel exploring how technology changes memory, and how memory shapes the soul

Software prodigy Josie Ashkenazi has invented a program that records everything its users do. When an Egyptian library invites her to visit as a consultant, her jealous sister Judith persuades her to go. But in Egypt’s post-revolutionary chaos, Josie is kidnapped—leaving Judith free to usurp her sister’s life, including her husband and daughter, while Josie’s talent for preserving memories becomes her only hope of escape. A century earlier, another traveler arrives in Egypt: Solomon Schechter, a Cambridge professor hunting for a medieval archive hidden in a Cairo synagogue. What he finds will reveal the power and danger of the world Josie’s work brings into being: a world where nothing is ever forgotten. Interweaving stories from Genesis, medieval philosophy, and the digital frontier, A Guide for the Perplexed is a spellbinding tale of profound inner meaning—and will bring a vast new readership to the acclaimed work of Dara Horn. Dara Horn is one of Granta’s “Best Young American Novelists” and winner of two National Jewish Book Awards. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and four children.