ONE ALADDIN TWO LAMPS

This audiobook blends manifesto, memoir, and myth. It alternates between first-person reflections from English author Winterson and performances of the stories of One Thousand and One Nights in English Iranian narrator Dana Haqjoo's deep, rich voice. They are linked by the conceit that clever bride Shahrazad spins each tale to her royal husband, who promised to kill her when the stories end. Haqjoo uses dramatic pacing and a region-appropriate but carefully vague accent, transporting the listener to the nonspecific world of folktales collected across vast West Asia and set partly in an exoticized East. The author's interspersed literary and political commentaries are firmly rooted in present-day Britain in their content and performance. The startling contrast between Haqjoo's and Winterson's chapters creates a fresh listening experience. [Published: JANUARY 2026]