From a desperate escape on horseback out of revolutionary Iran to the glittering nightclubs of Paris, from forbidden passion in the halls of Princeton to the high-stakes drama of a New York law practice, THE RIDDLE OF THE SPHINX achieves the rare feat of echoing long after the last page.

A psychological drama that unfolds through the lens of alternate realities, the novel explores free will, destiny and the many guises and disguises of an individual’s identity: A young boy in the elite social circle of the royal Iranian Pahlavi court in the 1970s suffers an abrupt disruption of his privileged life when the Shah and his 2,500-year-old monarchy fall.  A Princeton scholar’s promising future is derailed by an obsessive love affair. A corporate lawyer at the pinnacle of his career at a prestigious New York law firm begins to question his picture-perfect life.  

Combining lyrical prose with international suspense, Montagu takes us on a dramatic journey of exile, sexual obsession and self-discovery. THE RIDDLE OF THE SPHINX is a literary “vipassana” that explores the workings of the human mind, revealing the transcendental and existential reality hidden behind the illusions that are a hallmark of the human condition.