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by Amira Ghenim
A finalist for the 2021 International Prize for Arabic Fiction, a compelling saga of two families that illuminates the lives of women in modern Tunisia.
Tunisia, 1930s. Against the backdrop of a country in turmoil, in search of its identity, the lives and destinies of the members of two important upper-class families of Tunis intertwine: the Ennaifer family, with a rigidly conservative and patriarchal mentality, and the Rassaa, open-minded and progressive.
One terrible night in December 1935, the destiny of both families changes forever when Zbaida Ali Rassaa, the young wife of Mohsen Ennaifer, is accused of having had a clandestine love affair with Tahar Haddad, an intellectual of humble origins known for his union activism and support for women's rights. The events of that fateful night are told by eleven different narrators, members of the two families, who recall them in different historical moments, from the 1940s to the present day. The result is a complex mosaic of secrets, memories, accusations, regrets, and emotions, taking the reader on an exciting journey through the stories of individuals caught up in the upheavals of history.
"Ghenim keeps the reader guessing, as she does her characters, with passion and anguish, disclosing devastating secrets of lives maliciously destroyed. A stirring, engrossing tale." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"[A]n enthralling saga of two upper-class families linked by marriage and roiled by an explosive letter in 1935 Tunis...Ghenim provides a rich backdrop with descriptions of Tunis's culinary traditions and Tunisia's fight for independence. Readers will be transported." —Publishers Weekly
"One of the best Tunisian novels of recent years... Amira Ghenim masterfully weaves suspense throughout a family saga that grips the reader until the very last page." —Internazionale
"An enthralling exploration of the complexities of Tunisian society, and a gripping family saga that captures the spirit of a nation poised between tradition and modernity." —Corriere della Sera
"A mesmerizing kaleidoscope of a novel." —la Repubblica
This information about A Calamity of Noble Houses was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Amira Ghenim is a Tunisian writer and academic, born in 1978. She teaches Linguistics and Translation at Tunis University. Her novel The Yellow Dossier won the 2020 Sheikh Rashid Bin Hamad Prize. A Calamity of Noble Houses was published in 2020.
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