Fatma: A Novel of Arabia

"Told in the form of dreams and living parables, Fatma is full of vivid descriptions that billow from Alem's bottomless well of Saudi culture. Nuggets of wisdom are sequestered within these languid lines of prose like diamonds in the rough." - Virginia Quarterly Review; "One might consider this tale a revelation of Arabian women's inner lives in rebellion against the confines imposed on them - or perhaps an exploration of innate suspicion between male and female. Or perhaps there is no identifiable meaning, just effect. The highly sensuous text was shaped by McDonough, who adds an afterword about his working relationship with the Saudi author." - Multicultural Review; "Dreams, myths, and prophecies figure prominently in this elegant and eerie tale - an unusual collaboration between the Saudi Arabian woman who wrote it in English and the American cinematographer whose revision of her manuscript thus is, and isn't literally a 'translation.'... A unique fever dream." - Kirkus Reviews"

Author: 
Alem, Raja
Title: 
Fatma: A Novel of Arabia
Publisher: 
Syracuse University Press
Place of Publication: 
Saudi Arabia
Date: 
2002
Subject Area: 
Fiction
Original Language: 
English
Translator: 
RA with Tom Mc Donough
ISBN: 
0-8156-0738-5
Description: 

"Told in the form of dreams and living parables, Fatma is full of vivid descriptions that billow from Alem's bottomless well of Saudi culture. Nuggets of wisdom are sequestered within these languid lines of prose like diamonds in the rough." - Virginia Quarterly Review; "One might consider this tale a revelation of Arabian women's inner lives in rebellion against the confines imposed on them - or perhaps an exploration of innate suspicion between male and female. Or perhaps there is no identifiable meaning, just effect. The highly sensuous text was shaped by McDonough, who adds an afterword about his working relationship with the Saudi author." - Multicultural Review; "Dreams, myths, and prophecies figure prominently in this elegant and eerie tale - an unusual collaboration between the Saudi Arabian woman who wrote it in English and the American cinematographer whose revision of her manuscript thus is, and isn't literally a 'translation.'... A unique fever dream." - Kirkus Reviews"