Bestselling writer Khaled Hosseini's new book "Sea Prayer" is a tribute to Alan Kurdi, the three-year-old Syrian boy whose body washed upon the beach in Turkey in September 2015, and will release on August 30.
The Afghan-born American novelist was impelled to write "Sea Prayer" by the haunting image of young Alan.
Written in the form of a letter, "Sea Prayer" is a father's reflection as he watches over his sleeping son, on the dangerous journey across the sea that lies before them.
It is also an account of their life in Homs, Syria, before the war, and of that city's swift transformation from a home into a deadly war zone.
Originally produced in collaboration with UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, "Sea Prayer" was first released as a Guardian virtual film on September 1, 2017.
Published by Bloomsbury, "Sea Prayer" has illustrations by Dan Williams.
"We are living in the midst of a displacement crisis of enormous proportions. 'Sea Prayer' is an attempt to pay tribute to the millions of families, like Alan Kurdi's, who have been splintered and forced from home by war and persecution," says Hosseini.
Alexandra Pringle, group editor-in-chief at Bloomsbury, said the publishing house is "very proud to be working with Khaled Hosseini to create a beautiful book from his lyrical and intensely moving story, a book to be cherished by people of all ages all over the world".
"My dear Marwan, I look at your profile in the glow of this moon, my boy, your eyelashes like calligraphy, closed in guileless sleep. And I say to you, 'Hold my hand. Nothing bad will happen'."
On a moonlit beach a father cradles his sleeping son as they wait for dawn to break and a boat to arrive. He speaks to his boy of the long summers of his childhood, recalling his grandfather's house in Syria, the stirring of olive trees in the breeze, the bleating of his grandmother's goat, the clanking of her cooking pots.
And he remembers, too, the bustling city of Homs with its crowded lanes, its mosque and grand souk, in the days before the sky spat bombs and they had to flee.
When the sun rises, they and those around them will gather their possessions and embark on a perilous sea journey in search of a new home.
Hosseini has authored books like "The Kite Runner", "A Thousand Splendid Suns" and "And the Mountains Echoed". In 2006, he was appointed a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador.
Williams is a London-based artist whose illustrations accompanied an extract of "The Kite Runner" in the Guardian when it was first published 15 years ago.
Bloomsbury will donate one pound from the sale of each print book to UNHCR.
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