As Rich as the King A Tale of Casablanca

“Don’t let its French prize-winning status fool you: this is a pleasurable, even filthy summer romance . . . about motorbikes, moody teens and misplaced desire on the Moroccan coast.”  – The Times (UK)

A coming-of-age tale and twisted love story, set amid the beaches, streets, and mansions of 1990s Casablanca

This deliciously sensual, poetic, and provocative love letter to Casablanca hums with the city’s sounds, sights, tastes, and smells on every immersive page. A critically acclaimed debut novel, As Rich as the King is appearing in English for the first time.

Sarah is poor, but at least she's French, which allows her to attend the city's elite high school for expats and wealthy locals. It's there that she first lays eyes on Driss. He's older, quiet and not particularly good looking - apart from his eyes, which are the green of thyme simmering in a tagine. Most importantly he's rumoured to be the richest guy in the city. She decides she wants those eyes. And she wants a life like his.

But to get to Driss she will have to cross the gaping divide that separates them and climb to the top of the city's society, from street corner merguez and frites to mansions overlooking the ocean. Provocative, immersive, sensual, As Rich as the King is an unforgettably twisted love story amidst the streets of Casablanca.

Abigail Assor was born in Casablanca in 1990. As Rich as the King is her debut novel. It won the Françoise Sagan Prize, the Bookstagram Prize and was shortlisted for the Goncourt Prize for Debut Novel in France, and is now being translated into 6 languages.

Natasha Lehrer is a writer, translator and editor, whose work has been shortlisted for several international awards. Her translation of Suite for Barbara Loden by Nathalie Léger won the 2016 Scott Moncrieff Prize.