Publication

2014-02-04 - Grove Press

Language

English

Word Count

80,000 words, Guess

Page Count

320 pages

Identifiers

and 1 more

Classifications

  • LCCPS3551.L215U56 2013

Description

"Aaliya Sohbi lives alone in her Beirut apartment, surrounded by stockpiles of books. Godless, fatherless, childless, and divorced, Aaliya is her family's 'unnecessary appendage.' Every year, she translates a new favorite book into Arabic, then stows it away. The thirty-seven books that Aaliya has translated over her lifetime have never been read-- by anyone. After overhearing her neighbors, 'the three witches,' discussing her too-white hair, Aaliya accidentally dyes her hair too blue. In this breathtaking portrait of a reclusive woman's late-life crisis, readers follow Aaliya's digressive mind as it ricochets across visions of past and present Beirut. Colorful musings on literature, philosophy, and art are invaded by memories of the Lebanese Civil War and Aaliya's own volatile past. As she tries to overcome her aging body and spontaneous emotional upwellings, Aaliya is faced with an unthinkable disaster that threatens to shatter the little life she has left" --

Subjects

Other Editions

  • An Unnecessary WomanGrove Press2014-02-04

Reader Reviews

No reviews yet for this book.

Be the first to share your thoughts!