Song of Ancient Lovers: A Novel by Laura RestrepoPublication Date: December 30, 2025
Pages: 368
Add on: Goodreads
Rating: ★★★★
Source: From the Publisher
Genre: Fiction / Literary
Publisher: HarperVia / HarperCollins
Award-winning Colombian author Laura Restrepo weaves contemporary themes and ancient myth in this story of star-crossed lovers in a world on the brink of collapse.
Retelling the mythical love story between the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon in the refugee camps of the present day, Song of Ancient Lovers is a sublime ode to love and desire as forces shaping human history, with power that rivals forces of destruction.
Ethereal in its weaving of the real and the mythical, the contemporary and the ancient, this is the story of Bos Mutas, a young writer traveling from South America to northern Africa in search of traces of his obsession. His research unveils the Queen of Sheba as unyielding and committed to her independence, with remarkable influence both in her time—over Solomon and all the subjects in her expansive kingdom—and on thinkers and artists across the centuries, from Thomas Aquinas to Gérard de Nerval, Frida Kahlo to Patti Smith. He also finds traces of her influence in the magic made of devastating circumstances by women he meets on his journey, especially Zahra Bayda, a Somali midwife who has taken it upon herself to show him around.
Stunning and evocative, Song of Ancient Lovers is a triumph of imagination and reverence for the spirit that connects us across boundaries of time and geography.
Translated from the Spanish by Caro De Robertis
REVIEW
Laura Restrepo’s Song of Ancient Lovers doesn’t just retell the legendary romance of the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon; it hurls it into the chaos of modern refugee camps, giving ancient myth a pulse that matches the urgency of our own times. Drawing on her firsthand experiences with Doctors Without Borders in Africa, Restrepo weaves together past and present, myth and reality, to create a story that feels at once sweeping and intensely personal.
At the center is the epic love between Sheba and Solomon, but Restrepo filters their story through the lives of today’s refugees. Love and loss ripple through generations, echoing from ancient palaces to makeshift tents. Sheba’s journey becomes a mirror for the struggles and endurance of those caught in war and migration, and the narrative slips effortlessly between centuries, reminding us how myth can explain the world we live in.
Characters here are vivid and unforgettable. Bos Mutas, a young boy captivated by the Queen of Sheba, serves as our guide through both legend and reality. Sheba herself is both a symbol and a woman, complicated, powerful, flawed, and deeply human. The book doesn’t flinch from trauma or violence, especially the suffering of women, but these scenes never feel gratuitous. Instead, they highlight the resilience that runs through both myth and memory.
Restrepo’s writing is lush and lyrical, but never showy. She moves from epic questions to intimate moments without missing a beat. The result is a novel that’s both dazzling and raw, one that reveres its subject and its readers. Some might find the book’s ambition or its painful subject matter overwhelming, but for those willing to plunge in, it’s a rewarding, unforgettable read.
Song of Ancient Lovers is a bold, haunting novel that uses the oldest tales to make sense of the world’s newest wounds. For anyone who craves fiction that challenges and moves them, this book is a rare find, one that lingers long after the last page.
Rating: 4 out of 5
