The Sand Fish: A Novel from Dubai [9780061744679]

Overview

A novel of Dubai, The Sand Fish by Maha Gargash offers readers a fascinating glimpse into another corner of the world.

Gargash opens the narrative in the remote mountains of the Musandam Peninsula, following seventeen-year-old Noora from an isolated valley of stone huts into an arranged union with an older pearl merchant.

The coastal village of Wadeema places the spirited young bride within a walled coral-stone household governed by strict domestic seclusion.

Within this compound, the novel traces her uneasy passage as two senior co-wives guard the family traditions and the seasonal rhythms of the pearling fleet dictate daily life.

Set in the 1950s in what is now the United Arab Emirates, The Sand Fish tells the poignant and powerful story of a rebellious young woman trapped in a repressive society—as richly atmospheric a look at Middle Eastern life and culture as The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini and Alaa Al Aswany’s The Yacoubian Building.

• Coming of Age: Follows seventeen-year-old Noora as she is uprooted from her mountain childhood, confronting family betrayal, rigid marriage customs, and the loss of her youthful freedom.
• Forced Proximity: Confined within a coastal compound beneath cooling wind towers, Noora must navigate the barbed suspicions of senior co-wives Lateefa and Shamsa while carving out her own space.
• Cultural Heritage: Explores a vanished pre-oil society in authentic detail, from the harsh rituals of mountain matchmakers to the precarious livelihoods of pearl divers facing economic decline.
• Also by This Author: That Other Me.