Silken Gazelles
A Novel
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
An unforgettable story of friendship, love, and the impact of childhood from the first Arabic-language winner of the Man Booker International Prize. 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.
Ghazaala soon falls for a young violinist, despite her parents’ opposition. His position in the Royal Oman Symphony Orchestra brings the young couple to Muscat, where Ghazaala enrolls in university while balancing the duties of a new wife, caring for her husband, their home, and before long, their twin boys.
During this time, Ghazaala grows close to Harir, who recounts the story of their deepening friendship over ten years in the pages of her diary. The elusive, ghostly existence of Asiya exerts a force over both of their lives, yet neither Ghazaala nor Harir are 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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
International Booker Prize winner Alharthi's eloquent latest (after Celestial Bodies) begins in a rural village in 1980s Oman, where a young mother named Saada rescues an abandoned newborn baby, names her Ghazaala, and takes care of her alongside Saada's 10-month-old daughter, Asiya. Ghazaala's and Asiya's parents then share in raising Ghazaala, and the girls remain close throughout their childhoods. After Saada gives birth to Asiya's younger sister, Zahwa, Saada ignores 11-year-old Asiya, and Ghazaala consoles her. After three-year-old Zahwa drowns in a canal, Saada slips into despair and dies. Asiya founders under the care of her father, whose heavy drinking prompts Ghazaala's parents to forbid Ghazaala from seeing Asiya. Though Asiya never reappears in the book, she's ever-present in Ghazaala's bittersweet memories. The author builds a multilayered and tender portrait of Asiya's lingering impact on Ghazaala, exploring how Asiya's absence makes Ghazaala feel rudderless, causing her to question the expectation that she will feel fulfilled as a wife and mother; and how Ghazaala gains strength from Asiya's memory in moments of struggle, as when she's rebuffed by a lover. It's a worthy entry into the pantheon of stories about female friendship. Agents: Jackie Ko and Emma Herman, Wylie Agency.
