3 novels and 1 storybook by Hanan Al-Shaykh
Requirements: ePUB reader, 6.9 MB
Overview: Hanan al-Shaykh (born November 12, 1945, Beirut) is an acclaimed Lebanese author of contemporary literature, journalist, short-story writer and playwright. Her family background is that of a strict Shi’a family. Al-Shaykh’s literature follows in the footsteps of such contemporary Arab women authors as Nawal El Saadawi in that it explicitly challenges the roles of women in the traditional social structures of the Arab Middle East. Her work is heavily influenced by the patriarchal controls that were placed on her not only by her father and brother, but also within the traditional neighborhood in which she was raised. As a result, her work is a manifestation of a social commentary on the status of women in the Arab-Muslim world. She challenges notions of sexuality, obedience, modesty, and familiar relations in her work.
Her work often implies or states sexually explicit scenes and sexual situations which go directly against the social mores of conservative Arab society, which has led to her books being banned in the more conservative areas of the region including the Persian Gulf. In other countries, they are difficult to obtain because of censorship laws which prevent the Arabic translations from being easily accessible to the public. Specific examples include The Story of Zahra which includes abortion, divorce, sanity, illegitimacy and sexual promiscuity, and Women of Sand and Myrrh which contains scenes of a lesbian relationship between two of the main protagonists.
Genre: Fiction / Contemporary
Women Of Sand And Myrrh, Catherine Cobham (Translator)
In an unnamed Middle Eastern city, four women from different social and cultural backgrounds tell their story. All four women struggle in a society where women cannot drive, walk in the streets unveiled, or travel without male permission. These women are treated to every luxury except that which they truly desire – freedom.
The Locust and the Bird
Married at a young age against her will, Kamila soon fell head-over-heels in love with another man—and was thus forced to choose between her children and her lover. As the narrative unfolds through the years—from the bazaars, cinemas and apartments of 1930s Beirut to its war-torn streets decades later—we follow this passionate woman as she survives the tragedies and celebrates the triumphs of a life lived to the very fullest.
Beirut Blues, Catherine Cobham (Translator)
The daring fragmented structure of this epistolary novel mirrors the chaos surrounding the heroine, Asmahan, as she futilely writes letters to her loved ones, to her friends, to Beirut, and to the war itself–letters of lament that are never to be answered except with their own resounding echoes. In Beirut Blues, Hanan al-Shaykh evokes a Beirut that has been seen by few, and that will never be seen again.
I Sweep the Sun Off Rooftops, Catherine Cobham (Translator)
In these seventeen short stories–eleven of which are appearing in English for the first time–al-Shaykh expands her horizons beyond the boundaries of Lebanon, taking us throughout the Middle East, to Africa, and finally to London. Stylistically diverse, her stories are often about the shifting and ambiguous power relationships between different cultures–as well as between men and women.
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