Of some interest to readers of contemporary Arabic literature.
Egyptian novelist and jurist El-Ashmawi delivers an allegorical tale of religious strife in a desert backwater.
Tayea Village isn’t much of a place, as Nader Fayez Kamal discovers on arriving. The most interesting thing about the farming backwater is its name, which honors a former mayor but which the inhabitants mispronounce: “They called it Tayha, as in the lost soul, instead of the obedient one.” The “lost soul” sobriquet is fitting, for, explains a villager with the redolent name of Ramses Iskander, the house in which Nader, a public prosecutor, has been billeted is said to be haunted by the ghost of a British colonial officer, and in the wake of the resulting curse some of its previous Muslim inhabitants abandoned the town, which was then settled by Christians. One such lost soul wanders into Tayea about the same time Nader does, a woman named Hoda Yusef Habib, who, raped by her stepfather, has been married off to a brutish, abusive older man. Now a widow—or so she thinks—Hoda assumes a Coptic identity and hides in open sight, in the bargain revealing healing powers reminiscent of the biblical tale of Lazarus. Those powers don’t extend to keeping peace between Christians and Muslims, however, and El-Ashmawi’s story becomes one of grinding vendettas, lawsuits, and murders, with a leavening of sardonic magic realism in the vein more of Dürrenmatt than García Márquez. Much of the story can be read as a thinly veiled critique of the last years of the Mubarak regime, marked by sectarian violence and official corruption. The characters are too thinly developed to carry much weight. Nader, though committed to justice, is both weak and shallow: He carries a gun without bullets and lives in fear of a call from his distant but demanding fiancee, while Hoda, strong and resolute, pays a terrible price “simply because she wanted to live,” an outcome that can be predicted well before the book’s end.
Of some interest to readers of contemporary Arabic literature.Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2023
ISBN: 9781649032546
Page Count: 216
Publisher: Hoopoe
Review Posted Online: Aug. 12, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.
A struggling writer finds an unexpected muse when a mysterious man shows up at her cabin.
Petra Rose used to pump out a bestselling book every six months, but then the adaptation happened—that is, the disastrous film adaptation of her most famous book. The movie changed the book’s storyline so egregiously that fans couldn’t forgive her, and the ensuing harassment sent Petra into hiding and gave her a serious case of writer’s block. Petra’s one hope is her solo writing retreat at a remote cabin, where she can escape the distractions of real life and focus on her next book, a story about a woman having an affair with a cop. When officer Nathaniel Saint shows up at her cabin door, inspiration comes flooding back. Much like the character from Petra’s book, Saint is married, and he’s willing to be Petra’s muse, helping her get into her characters’ heads. Petra’s book is practically writing itself, but is the game she’s playing a little too dangerous? Does she know when to stop—and, more importantly, is Saint willing to stop? Hoover is no stranger to controversial movie adaptations and internet backlash, but she clarifies in a note to readers that she’s “just a writer writing about a writer” and that no further connections to her own life are contained in these pages—which is a good thing, because the book takes some horrifying twists and turns. Petra finds herself inexplicably attracted to Saint, even as she describes him as “such an asshole,” and her feelings for him veer between love and hate. The novel serves as a meta commentary on the dark romance genre—as Petra puts it, “Even though, as readers, we wouldn’t want to live out some of the fantasies we read about, it doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy reading those things.”
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
ISBN: 9781662539374
Page Count: -
Publisher: Montlake
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
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