An Unlasting Home

Spanning the Arab world, India and the United States, this family saga tells of the heart-stopping triumphs and failures of three generations of Arab women ''An author already confident in her craft and her ability to give voice to the emotions and yearnings of her characters.''

''A spellbinding family history unfolds as a Kuwaiti woman goes on trial for blasphemy in a world gone mad. Deftly written, structurally brilliant, Mai Al-Nakib''s An Unlasting Home is a lasting novel that splits open time, leaps across continents and creates the sort of characters we carry forward into our hearts and lives. I absolutely loved this book.''

''An ambitious family epic with a historical sweep, an elegy to grandmothers and mothers who were forced from their original homes by personal or political circumstances in the Middle East to build nests elsewhere.'' ''An Unlasting Home is an unforgettable story of people making choices for love, family, freedom and identity against the tidal forces of history in the Arab region. Shimmering with poetic prose, and as pressingly real as the white heat of August in Baghdad, this poignant debut will keep you in its thrall.'' ''Deeply enchanting, at times suspenseful, and always engaging, An Unlasting Home is filled with tales of women''s lives and their intersection with the often volatile and unpredictable currents of nations, war and political history. Mai Al-Nakib''s storyteller''s voice is fresh and original. Her book grabbed me from the outset and kept me entranced to the last page.'' ''Mai Al-Nakib lyrically explores themes of homeland, tradition and agency as she relates the stories of generations of Arab women across Kuwait, the US, Iraq, India and Lebanon.'' ''Grapples profoundly with the limits of individual choice and the hold exerted by a person''s homeland ... accomplished and searing.''

''So fresh and unsettling that it will enchant you from the first page and linger for days after reading ... Deftly written ... Its epic family saga style echoes that of Hala Alyan''s Salt Houses and The Arsonists'' City, Ayad Akhtar''s Homeland Elegies, and Min Jin Lee''s Pachinko.''

''A sweeping novel that will stick with readers for a long time.''

''For lovers of sweeping, multigenerational epics like Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing or Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko, this story following three generations of Arab women will strike right at the heart.''

''A mesmerising saga of women’s resilience in the face of political turmoil.'' ‘A smooth, fast-flowing narrative […] a testament to the eternal vibrancy of women in the Arab world.’ ''Refreshing and eye-opening.'' ''An ambitious family epic with a historical sweep, an elegy to grandmothers and mothers who were forced from their original homes by personal or political circumstances in the Middle East to build nests elsewhere.'' Sara is a philosophy professor at Kuwait University. Her relationship with Kuwait is complicated; it is a country she recognises less and less. Yet since her return from the States eleven years earlier, a certain inertia has kept her there. When she is accused of blasphemy, which carries with it the threat of execution, Sara realises she must reconcile her feelings and her place in the world once and for all. Awaiting trial, Sara retraces the past, intent on examining the lives of the women who made her. She conjures forth her grandmothers - beautiful and stubborn Yasmine, who marries the son of the Pasha of Basra and lives to regret it, and Lulwa, born poor in Kuwait and later swept off to India by her wealthy merchant husband. An Unlasting Home brings to life the triumphs and failures of three generations of Arab women. At once intimate and sweeping, personal and political, it is an unforgettable family portrait and a spellbinding epic tale.

• | Author: Mai Al-Nakib
• | Publisher: Saqi Books
• | Publication Date: Apr 04, 2023
• | Number of Pages:
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• | Binding: Paperback / softback
• | ISBN-13: 9780863569272
• | ISBN-10: 0863569277