For generations, the Arab female experience has been reframed by colonizers, orientalists, and even the pressures of society. However, literature is a powerful way to reclaim that narrative, according to “The National” website.
Here are eight novels that capture the Arab female experience, from navigating family conventions to finding inner strength and meaning through friendship.
Washes, Prays by Noor Naga
Coocoo, a young immigrant woman in Toronto, is having a crisis of faith. She meets what seems to be the perfect man, Mohammad—perfect except for the fact that he’s married.
Through powerful imagery, Noor Naga writes a part-poem, part-fiction verse novel that chronicles Coocoo’s unraveling as her love and connection for Mohammed transform from longing and obsession to something unworthy and without pride. Throughout this journey, Nouf, her best friend, supports her as they navigate the many contradictions between love and faith in Coocoo’s life.
These Impossible Things by Salma El-Wardany
Malak, Kees, and Jenna have been best friends since childhood, living under the conservative gaze of their close-knit families. They have spent their adolescence and lives as young women, balancing their family’s expectations with the lives they want.
However, balancing these two worlds is becoming impossible as they become their own. Malak is looking for love, Kees has found it, but with the wrong man, and Jenna pretends she doesn’t need it, filling her life with pleasure and parties instead. While they have each other, everything changes one night in their final year of university, forcing them to confront each other and their future.
32 by Sahar Mandour
An unnamed 32-year-old narrator reveals a glimpse into the life and reality of women in war-torn Beirut. Written in a fast-paced style, the narrator and her three friends, Zumurrud, Zeezee, and Shwikar, are attempting to navigate their careers, personal lives, and expectations.
Through their intimate and funny conversations, we understand more of the struggles of leading an independent life in Lebanese society and the power and importance of female friendships.
A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum
Deya doesn’t want to get married, but she has no choice. As part of a conservative Arab family living in Brooklyn, she is expected to marry one of the many suitors her grandparents welcome to their home. This is the same thing that happened to Deya’s mother when she left Palestine as a teenager to marry Deya’s father. Deya believed both died in a car accident. Or did they?
One day, a secret note from a mysterious woman makes Deya question everything she knows about her past and what it means for her future.
In the Eye of the Sun by Ahdaf Soueif
Asya is thinking about her life. As her beloved uncle is about to have an operation in London, the novel flashes back to a significant phase in her life as a young woman in 1960s Cairo.
Growing up in an affluent, liberal, and educated family, Asya’s life changes against the backdrop of the Arab-Israeli war. The war’s social and geopolitical effects significantly affect her family’s dynamics. As a means of escape, Asya marries a Westernised man, and life starts to take a semblance of normality.
But once again, everything changes when Asya meets a larger-than-life Englishman while studying for her graduate degree.
Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa al-Sanea
Gamrah, Sadeem, Michelle, and Lamees are part of upper-middle-class Saudi society. While that has its perks, the group of friends also has their own dreams and desires. While they attempt to explore a different life, they quickly understand that they run the risk of disappointing their families.
The novel has been praised and criticized for its portrayal of contemporary Saudi life, its open exploration of issues about young Arab women, such as identity and love, and its attempt to balance a “modern” way of life with traditional values.
The Blue Between Sky and Water by Susan Abulhawa
The story of four generations of Palestinian women in Gaza is explored in this powerful story. After being violently expelled from their farming village of Beit Daras, the women of one family are left to be both breadwinners and protectors of their loved ones.
Nazmiyeh, the matriarch of a household of sisters, daughters, and granddaughters, attempts against all odds to keep her family safe and alive as she navigates personal, military, and political landmines.
A Certain Woman by Hala El Badry
Nahid is an archaeologist who is looking into the past and into herself to search for liberation. Her story is a journey inward, a quest to break free from her self-imposed beliefs that have severely affected her sense of self.
She is an unreliable narrator, sometimes making her journey, feelings, thoughts, and memories strange, if not unbelievable. While she is strangely attracted to the idea of keeping up appearances from her middle-class upbringing, Nahid must also confront questions of love and intimacy within her loveless marriage to Mustafa and her relationship with novelist and journalist Omar, who himself is trapped in a marriage that is very different from her own.
