Celestial Bodies is set in the village of al-Awafi in Oman, where we encounter three sisters: Mayya, who marries Abdallah after a heartbreak; Asma, who marries from a sense of duty; and Khawla, who rejects all offers while waiting for her beloved, who has emigrated to Canada. These three women and their families witness Oman evolve from a traditional, slave-owning society, slowly redefining itself after the colonial era, to the crossroads of its complex present.
Elegantly structured and taut, Celestial Bodies is a coiled spring of a novel, telling of Oman's coming-of-age through the prism of one family's losses and loves.
'Complex and tangled . . . the glimpses into a culture relatively little known in the west are fascinating.' The Guardian
'A book to win over the head and the heart in equal measure, worth lingering over . . .' Bettany Hughes, Man Booker International Judge
'A beautifully achieved account of lives pulling at the edges of change.'...
Description:
Celestial Bodies is set in the village of al-Awafi in Oman, where we encounter three sisters: Mayya, who marries Abdallah after a heartbreak; Asma, who marries from a sense of duty; and Khawla, who rejects all offers while waiting for her beloved, who has emigrated to Canada. These three women and their families witness Oman evolve from a traditional, slave-owning society, slowly redefining itself after the colonial era, to the crossroads of its complex present.
Elegantly structured and taut, Celestial Bodies is a coiled spring of a novel, telling of Oman's coming-of-age through the prism of one family's losses and loves.
'Complex and tangled . . . the glimpses into a culture relatively little known in the west are fascinating.' The Guardian
'A book to win over the head and the heart in equal measure, worth lingering over . . .' Bettany Hughes, Man Booker International Judge
'A beautifully achieved account of lives pulling at the edges of change.'...