The Lost Civilization of Suolucidir (ridiculous spelled backwards), is the story of an imaginary city-state in eastern Iran, and in the course of the book three different archeological expeditions at three different points in history will look for Suolucidir. The first, a British expedition is launched on the eve of World War I, next the invented Franco-Soviet Friendship Dig whose members, on eve of World War II, are desperate to get out of France, and the present by a New York archeologist poking into the hornet’s nest that is Iran just after the Shah went into exile. The groups are searching for treasure, oil, evidence of the Lost Tribes of Israel. People disappear, relics are stolen. Lost Civilization has been compared to Indiana Jones meets Umberto Eco with a bit of Etgar Keret thrown in as well.
To quote the Publisher’s Weekly review: “Daitch’s fantastically fun novel is brainy, escapist fiction at its best. The novel is like a Scheherazade tale, never quite giving the reader time or reason to pause.”