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Finding Nouf (first published in the UK as Night
of the Mi'raj) is as much a riveting mystery as it is an
absorbing profile of the conflict between the traditional
and the modern in Saudi Arabian/Islamic culture. The latter
is deftly carried out in the characterizations of desert
guide Nayir al-Sharqi, assistant medical examiner Katya
Hijazi and, by proxy, murder victim Nouf Ash-Shrawi.
Nouf is the sixteen-year-old daughter of a wealthy and
powerful Saudi family. Is there any other kind, you ask?
Well, it turns out there is and therein lies the appeal of
this story. Ferraris shows us that not only are there
non-wealthy Arabs but there are other ways of viewing their
rigid (by Western standards) lifestyle and the strict rules
governing inter-gender relationships. When we first meet
Nayir, for example, after Nouf's brother Othman has asked
his friend to investigate her disappearance, the desert
guide seems so bound by Islamic law that we think he's never
going to get anywhere. Not only does he know next-to-nothing
about Nouf, he knows even less about women in general,
appearing genuinely afraid of them. Indeed, he's almost
apoplectic when he must deal with the boldly outspoken
assistant medical examiner Katya Hijazi. While not a crass
21st Century chick, she clearly has no problem
with breaking away from the older traditions, especially in
the workplace where she is confined to "the women's area."
However, due to her job and her relationship with the Shrawi
family as Othman's fiancé Katya becomes a more or less
temporary fixture in Nayir's life as they both investigate
the circumstances surrounding Nouf's mysterious
disappearance and death. Much as neither is willing to admit
it (she because of her engagement to Othman; he because of
the same plus his overall reticence around women) there is a
chemistry between them.
As tiny sparks fly in their completely platonic interactions
the pair exemplifies what charm can exist in this inflexible
culture. Nayir demonstrates a beneficent interpretation of
the way the Quran intends men to regard women respectfully
honoring them even as they are kept separate from men. Katya,
on the other hand, is a woman raised with those same
traditional values who is savvy enough to show Nayir in a
non-threatening way how tradition might evolve. Once he
achieves a certain comfort level in her presence Nayir finds
his conversations with Katya highly revelatory. Because for
Nayir to succeed in his investigation he must admit the
importance of learning all he can about Nouf, and not just
her last known movements but all the way to her innermost
secrets. In so doing he is also getting an education in the
way women, locked into these ancient roles, might think and
feel.
Ferraris, an American who spent some time in Saudi Arabia,
clearly came away with a comprehension of, and sensitivity
to, the virtues and the flaws of a culture that pours
through her characters' thoughts and actions and culminates
in a great read. I look forward to more adventures with Nayir and Katya.
About the Author
Zoë Ferraris moved to Saudi Arabia in the aftermath of the
first Gulf War to live with her then-husband and his
extended family, a group of Saudi-Palestinian Bedouins who
had never welcomed an American into their lives before. She
has an M.F.A. from Columbia University and received first
prize for mystery fiction at the Santa Barbara Writers
Conference in 2003. She currently lives in San Francisco
with her teenage daughter. Finding Nouf is her first
novel.
Coming Soon: The second in the series, as yet not
publicly named, appears to be publishing in the UK in April
2010, so there's a good chance it will publish in the USA in
either the Spring or Fall of 2010.
This review was originally published in The BookBrowse Review in June 2008, and has been updated for the May 2009 edition. Click here to go to this issue.
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