“Izzo digs deep into what makes men weep.”—Time Out New York

From one of France’s best-known authors comes this evocative meditation on the human comedy. A freighter is impounded in the port of Marseilles when its owners declare bankruptcy. On board, the men are divided: wait for the money owed them—money that might never come—or accept their fate and abandon ship? This may be Captain Abdul Aziz’s last commission and he is determined to save his charge and stand by his men. Diamantis, his second-in-command, is in search of a woman he has never stopped loving and who may now be living in Marseilles. In these close quarters charged with physical and emotional tension, each of these marooned sailors’ life stories begins to resemble a chapter in the complex, colorful, and tragic story of the Mediterranean Sea itself—rich with romance, legend, passion and drama. The Lost Sailors is a richly textured and bittersweet tribute to Mediterranean life. It is the novel in which Jean-Claude Izzo most completely expresses his vision of human history and how it has been played out on the shores of this sea since the beginnings of time. This is a novel for anyone who loves the sea, for anyone who is attracted to the dark passions it can provoke, for anyone who feels drawn to the rich blend of races, religions and individual stories to be found in port cities the world over. It is, at the same time, a story of the prodigious forces at play in all human destiny.

Jean-Claude Izzo
Jean-Claude Izzo (Marseilles 1945 – 2000) achieved astounding success with publication of the Marseilles Trilogy: Total Chaos, Chourmo and Solea. His two novels, The Lost Sailors and A Sun for the Dying, and the posthumous collection of essays and shorter pieces Garlic, Mint, & Sweet Basil also enjoy great success with critics and the public.

• Jun 19 2008
  The Guardian: Music, life, literature, and Jean-Claude Izzo...from the Guardian Unlimited Blog
  
• Dec 2 2007
  Boston Globe: "A tale of the three men's lives and loves...Izzo's novel is something of a palimpsest. The travels of the Romans, and of the Greeks before them, have left their traces over which the lives of his characters are now etched."
  
• Oct 1 2007
  Guardian Unlimited: "Music, it turns out, is vital to Izzo's unusual take on France's troubled ethnic divisions. Izzo's prose probes the vicious cycle of immigration, unemployment, poverty, crime and racism that afflict contemporary France."
  
• Jun 26 2007
  Kirkus Reviews: "The author masterfully depicts his native Marseilles’ sensuous diversity, from down-at-the-heels cafés to the increasingly ritzy and snobbish seaside."