Ali und Nino

About “Ali und Nino”

The novel follows Ali Khan Shirvanshir, a Tartar and Shi'ite Muslim, as he marries his childhood friend Nino Kipiani, a fair-skinned Georgian Christian, defying social conventions in a tradition-bound society. Set during World War I and the Russian Revolution in Azerbaijan and Persia, the story depicts their union amid political upheaval, war, and personal sacrifice, as Ali defends the short-lived Azerbaijani republic while Nino keeps their pregnancy secret and later flees with their infant daughter to Paris.