WOMEN OF SAND AND MYRRH - HANA AL-SHAYKAH - 1994

'She tells about religion, sex, marriage, house-keeping and hundreds of other human activities as they really are in the great golden cage of the desert.'

Hanan al-Shaykh's work has been likened to that of Margaret Atwood and Margaret Drabble, yet hers is a voice which is unique not only in the Arab world, but in world literature.

With consummate story-telling skill, al-Shaykh explores the lives of four women living in an unnamed Arab desert society.  There is Suha, fleeing from Lebanon and unused to the restrictions of secluded Arab life; Suzanne, an American woman who experiences herself anew through the desires of the local men; Tamr, a spirited desert woman and a student of Suha; Nur, also a local woman but a rich corrupt one whose restless energy pushes her to consume people as carelessly as the covets things.

The author affirms through her story-telling the extraordinary powers of fiction.  The diverse effects of extreme male rule on the lives of these women emerge - through her confident, exquisite writing - as more real and more complex than a thousand reports from a region that has become the major focus of world attention.

This 280 page softcover has some creases to cover, however the spine is uncreased.  Internally there is some browning inside covers and to page edges, a bookstore stamp  and a patch of wear to top inside corner of inside back cover. It is otherwise in a good, tight, clean condition.  A really great read!

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