The inspiration behind the prose...

Unlike my other novels, which found their beginnings with characters so persistent I had to write about them, this book began with a city. From the moment I stepped off the train in Marrakech, unprepared for anything more than another adventure and looking forward to learning about a new culture, I felt the city’s heat and rhythm and mystery wrap around me. Within a day, I knew that I would write a book set in this astounding place. With that realization I opened myself to Marrakech - and it was waiting. It  called to me; it sang to me; it whispered to me.  And so I wrote a story about Marrakech for Sidonie, so that I could uncover the secrets of the city with her.

The Saffron Gate is a novel about understanding oneself and realizing truths, and what we do with those truths. It is about Sidonie, Etienne, Manon, Badou, Aszulay and, yes, also Marrakech, which slowly but persistently made me understand that it was, indeed, another of my novel’s characters all along.

— Linda Holeman

The Saffron Gate Launch at McNally Robinson Booksellers
Winnipeg, MB
October, 2009

The Saffron Gate Launch at The Sultan's Tent
Toronto, ON
November, 2009