In This Edition of
The BookBrowse Review
Contents
Highlighting indicates debut books
Discussions are open to all members to read and post. Click to view the books currently being discussed.
Literary Fiction
Historical Fiction
Short Stories
Essays
Poetry & Novels in Verse
Thrillers
Romance
Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Speculative, Alt. History
Graphic Novels
Biography/Memoir
History, Current Affairs and Religion
Science, Health and the Environment
True Crime
Travel & Adventure
Other
Mysteries
Thrillers
Romance
Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Speculative, Alt. History
Graphic Novels
History, Current Affairs and Religion
| Critics: |
From Man Booker International Prize-winning author of Celestial Bodies and Bitter Orange Tree, a new novel about two Omani women whose unbreakable connection is forged as nursing sisters—a bond considered akin to that of a birth sibling.
Raised as sisters, Ghazaala is devastated when her friend Asiya is forced to leave their small mountainside village following a tragic circumstance. It's a separation that haunts her into adulthood, and she never gives up on finding a love that might replace the bond they shared.
Years later, Ghazaala's family moves to Muscat, where she falls in love with a professional violinist who lives in their building. She completely surrenders herself to his charm and, despite her parents' opposition, runs away from home to marry him. While balancing the duties of a new wife—caring for her husband, their home, and, before long, their twin boys—Ghazaala resumes her education and enrolls in university.
Ghazaala's sharp wit catches the attention of another student, Harir, during their freshman year. In the pages of her diary, Harir recounts the story of her deepening, transformative friendship with Ghazaala over the course of ten years. The elusive, ghostly existence of Asiya exerts a force over both their lives, yet neither Ghazaala nor Harir is aware of the connection. From the brilliant mind of Jokha Alharthi comes a tale of childhood friendship, and how its significance—and loss—can be recalibrated at different stages of life.
"[E]loquent...The author builds a multilayered and tender portrait...It's a worthy entry into the pantheon of stories about female friendship." —Publishers Weekly
"Alharthi mines rich material with her details of Omani history ... A book about searching for love—both parental and romantic—and reckoning with the past." —Kirkus Reviews
"From the first page, Silken Gazelles is a lush, shimmering portrait of a small community in the mountains of Oman, filled with women who love and care for one another, who fight for their dreams, and whose desire for independence and passion charts their course through the world far from their village. Two girls raised as sisters are separated by a series of tragedies, and forever they seek each other, the bonds of childhood forever etched in memory. The women in this novel are unforgettable, and I can't stop thinking of them. Jokha Alharthi is among my favorite novelists—and this book is transcendent." —Susan Straight, author of Mecca and In the Country of Women
Jokha Alharthi is the first Omani woman to have a novel translated into English, and Celestial Bodies is the first book translated from Arabic to win the Man Booker International Prize. She is the author of two previous collections of short fiction, a children's book, and three novels in Arabic. Fluent in English, she completed a PhD in Classical Arabic Poetry in Edinburgh, and teaches at Sultan Qaboos University in Muscat. She has been shortlisted for the Sahikh Zayed Award for Young Writers and her short stories have been published in English, German, Italian, Korean, and Serbian.
Other books by this author at BookBrowse:
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
