Sarah Ignatius — The Kaleidoscope of Destiny - with David Ignatius
Sarah Ignatius discusses her debut historical novel, *The Kaleidoscope of Destiny*, in conversation with Washington Post columnist and author David Ignatius. Set in 1915, the novel follows fourteen-year-old Arakel, an Armenian boy whose plans to travel the Silk Road with his Turkish and Armenian friends are destroyed when Ottoman authorities force Armenian families into exile during wartime persecution.
Separated from the safety of home and deprived of food, water, and possessions, Arakel must cross the Euphrates and navigate a violent landscape where corpses drift in the river and survival depends on trusting people he has been taught to view as enemies. His journey brings him into contact with Bedouins, Kurds, Arab camel drivers, Turks, Germans, and a wandering dervish, exploring courage, hope, ingenuity, faith, and the possibility of shared humanity during one of history’s darkest periods.
When: Saturday, October 3, 2026
Showtime: 5:00 p.m.
Venue: Politics and Prose at 5015 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
Tickets: Free admission, with first-come, first-served seating.
Featured author: Sarah Ignatius is a human rights lawyer, former nonprofit executive director, and former Boston College Law School instructor in immigration and asylum law. She co-authored *Immigration Law and the Family* and wrote a report on the U.S. asylum system for Harvard Law School’s National Asylum Study Project. Her legal writing has appeared in several professional journals and publications, and she has received recognition from the New England Society of Children’s Books Writers & Illustrators, the National League of American Pen Women, and Glimmer Train. She is a Somerville Arts Council Literature Artist Fellow, a Stanford University and Georgetown University Law Center graduate, and is half-Armenian. She lives in Massachusetts with her family.
Conversation partner: David Ignatius is an award-winning Washington Post columnist who has covered the Middle East and the CIA for four decades. He is also the author of several New York Times bestsellers and lives in Washington, DC.
Genre: Fiction and poetry.
Related books: Politics and Prose lists *The Kaleidoscope of Destiny* in hardcover for $28.95 and in paperback for $19.95. Both editions were published September 22, 2026.
Run time: Not specified.
Ages: Not specified.
Accessibility: To request accommodations or ask accessibility questions, email events@politics-prose.com. The venue ideally asks that requests be submitted one week before the event, but it will make an effort to accommodate requests made up to the event time.