The Doves Necklace

A Novel

Fiction & Literature, Literary
Cover of the book The Doves Necklace by Raja Alem, ABRAMS
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Raja Alem ISBN: 9781468312355
Publisher: ABRAMS Publication: May 3, 2016
Imprint: The Overlook Press Language: English
Author: Raja Alem
ISBN: 9781468312355
Publisher: ABRAMS
Publication: May 3, 2016
Imprint: The Overlook Press
Language: English

When the body of a young woman is discovered in the Lane of Many Heads, an alley in modern-day Mecca, no one will claim it, as they are all ashamed of her nakedness. As Detective Nasser pursues his investigation of the case, seemingly all of Mecca chimes in—including the Lane of Many Heads itself—in this brilliant, funny, profane, and enigmatic fever dream of a novel by Raja Alem, the first woman to win the International Prize for Arabic Fiction. Nasser initially suspects that the dead woman is Aisha, one of the residents of the Area, and he searches her emails for clues. The world she paints embraces everything from crime and religious extremism to the exploitation of foreign workers by a mafia of building contractors, who are destroying the historic areas of the city. In stark relief with this grimness is the beauty of her love letters to her German boyfriend. Another view reveals the city through the eyes of Yusuf, Aisha's neighbor, increasingly frustrated by the acceleration pace of change. As gripping as classic noir, nuanced as a Nabokov novel, and labyrinthine as the alleys of Mecca itself, this powerful and disturbing work of fiction masterfully reveals a city and a civilization in all its contradictions, at once beholden to brutal customs and uneasily coming to terms with new traditions. Raja Alem's singular The Dove's Necklace is a virtuosic work of literature that deserves the world's attention.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

When the body of a young woman is discovered in the Lane of Many Heads, an alley in modern-day Mecca, no one will claim it, as they are all ashamed of her nakedness. As Detective Nasser pursues his investigation of the case, seemingly all of Mecca chimes in—including the Lane of Many Heads itself—in this brilliant, funny, profane, and enigmatic fever dream of a novel by Raja Alem, the first woman to win the International Prize for Arabic Fiction. Nasser initially suspects that the dead woman is Aisha, one of the residents of the Area, and he searches her emails for clues. The world she paints embraces everything from crime and religious extremism to the exploitation of foreign workers by a mafia of building contractors, who are destroying the historic areas of the city. In stark relief with this grimness is the beauty of her love letters to her German boyfriend. Another view reveals the city through the eyes of Yusuf, Aisha's neighbor, increasingly frustrated by the acceleration pace of change. As gripping as classic noir, nuanced as a Nabokov novel, and labyrinthine as the alleys of Mecca itself, this powerful and disturbing work of fiction masterfully reveals a city and a civilization in all its contradictions, at once beholden to brutal customs and uneasily coming to terms with new traditions. Raja Alem's singular The Dove's Necklace is a virtuosic work of literature that deserves the world's attention.

More books from ABRAMS

Cover of the book The Misadventures of Salem Hyde by Raja Alem
Cover of the book Splendidly Unreasonable Inventors by Raja Alem
Cover of the book Prelude to a Scream by Raja Alem
Cover of the book We Were The Future by Raja Alem
Cover of the book Yoga Dogs by Raja Alem
Cover of the book I'm a Librarian (A Tinyville Town Book) (Read-Along) by Raja Alem
Cover of the book Dear Hot Dog by Raja Alem
Cover of the book A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Gynecologic Oncology Unit at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center of New York City by Raja Alem
Cover of the book A Woman in the House (and Senate) by Raja Alem
Cover of the book Almost a Crime by Raja Alem
Cover of the book I Know a Lot! by Raja Alem
Cover of the book Whale Shines by Raja Alem
Cover of the book The Fourth of July and the Founding of America by Raja Alem
Cover of the book From Exile to Washington by Raja Alem
Cover of the book Lullaby and Kisses Sweet by Raja Alem
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy