Translations
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4.0 • 4 Ratings
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
Amid a series of personal disasters, Aliyah and her daughter, Sakina, retreat to rural New South Wales to make a new life. Aliyah manages to secure a run-down property and hires a farmhand, Shep, an extremely private Palestinian man and the region's imam.
During a storm, she drives past the town's river and happens upon a childhood friend, Hana, who has been living a life of desperation. Aliyah takes her in and tries to navigate the indefinable relationships between both Hana and her farmhand. Tensions rise as Aliyah's growing bond with Shep strains her devotion to Hana.
Finally, all are thrown together for a reckoning alongside Hana's brother, Hashim, and Aliyah's confidante, Billie - a local Kamilaroi midwife she met working at the hospital - while bushfires rage around them.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Language and identity shape the debut novel from Australian-born Egyptian-Palestinian writer Jumaana Abdu, who is a doctor in addition to being an author. Shortlisted for the Stella Prize, Translations follows a mother and daughter in rural New South Wales who have to navigate the cultural vagaries of the country (in both senses of the word) as well as the hardships of daily life. As Aliyah finds herself increasingly drawn toward the local imam turned farmhand, forces of society and nature alike begin to bear down upon them. Australian actress Violette Ayad, who has both Palestinian and Lebanese heritage, voices this audiobook with a firm grasp of the most delicate narrative nuances. This is a unique story of worlds and preconceptions colliding, not in a dramatic crescendo but through a gradual, believable build.
