Description
By (author) Hanan Al-Shaykh; By (author) Al-Shaykh Hanan; Translated by Cobham Catherine
Short /annotation
In an unnamed Middle Eastern city, four women from different social and cultural backgrounds tell their story. There is Suha, an educated Lebanese woman brought to the desert by her husband; Tamr, who must fight against male rule to educate herself; and, Suzanne, captivated by the men and the mystery of the Arabian desert.
In an unnamed Middle Eastern city, four women from different social and cultural backgrounds tell their story. There is Suha, an educated Lebanese woman brought to the desert by her husband; Tamr, who must fight against male rule to educate herself; Suzanne, captivated by the men and the mystery of the Arabian desert; and Nur, in fierce pursuit of lovers (male and female) and foreign adventures – but her husband has her passport. All four women struggle in a society where women cannot drive a car, walk in the streets unveiled, or travel without male permission. It is a society where sex, due to its constraints, becomes an obsession. These women are treated to every luxury except that which they truly desire – freedom.
Review quote
”A complex and demanding story of women in the Gulf – oppresed, manipulated, sexually tormented and confused … breathtakingly frank” Edward Said”One of the finest Arab novelists of her generation” Financial Times”A small masterpiece in the psychological confines of the modern harem” Newsweek”Al-Shaykh goes where few Arab writers have gone before: not just into a world of women but into their sexuality” Economist
Biographical note
Hanan al-Shaykh is one of the contemporary Arab world”s most acclaimed writers. She was born in Lebanon and brought up in Beirut, before going to Cairo to receive her education. She was a successful journalist in Beirut, then later lived in the Arabian Gulf, before moving to London. She is the author of the collection I Sweep the Sun off Rooftops and her novels include The Story of Zahra, Women of Sand and Myrrh, Beirut Blues and, most recently, Only in London, which was shortlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. She lives in London.
Promotional headline
First published in 1988, Women of Sand and Myrrh was the first book to write about the role of women in Saudi Arabia. It caused controversey and was banned in many Arab countries, and is still banned to this day Bloomsbury is gaining a reputation for publishing excellent fiction from the Middle East – Women of Sand and Myrrh is no exception Hanan Al-Shaykh”s novel Only in London gained widespread critical acclaim and was shortlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize
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