Eight powerful novels about Arab women that capture the female experience

Set in Lebanon, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and beyond, these stories tackle themes of love, survival and identity

From female friendships, loveless marraiges and political upheavels these stories of Arab women are diverse and span the region. Photo: Publishers

For generations, the Arab female experience has been reframed by colonisers, orientalists and even the pressures of society. But literature is a powerful way to reclaim that narrative.

Here are eight novels that capture the Arab female experience, from navigating family conventions to finding inner strength and meaning through friendship.

Washes, Prays by Noor Naga

Coocoo, a young immigrant woman in Toronto, is having a crisis of faith. She meets what seems to be the perfect man, Mohammad – perfect but for the fact that he’s married.

Through powerful imagery, Noor Naga writes a part-poem, part-fiction novel that chronicles Coocoo's unravelling as the love and connection she has for Mohammed transform from longing and obsession to something unworthy and without pride. Throughout this journey, her best friend, Nouf, supports her as they navigate the many contradictions between love and faith in Coocoo’s life.

These Impossible Things by Salma El-Wardany

Malak, Kees and Jenna have been best friends since childhood, living under the conservative gaze of their close-knit families. They have spent their adolescence and lives as young women, balancing their family’s expectations with the lives they want.

However, as they come into their own, balancing these two worlds is becoming impossible. Malak is looking for love, Kees has found it, but with the wrong man, and Jenna pretends she doesn’t need it, filling her life with pleasure and parties instead. And while they have each other, everything changes one night in their final year of university, forcing them to confront not only each other but also their future.

32 by Sahar Mandour

An unnamed 32-year-old narrator reveals a glimpse into the life and reality of women in Beirut. In a book written in a fast-paced style, the narrator and her three friends, Zumurrud, Zeezee and Shwikar, attempt to navigate their careers, personal lives and the expectations placed on them.

Through their intimate and funny conversations, readers understand more about the struggles of leading an independent life in Lebanese society and the power and importance of female friendships.

A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum

Deya doesn’t want to get married but she has no choice. As part of a conservative Arab family living in Brooklyn, she is expected to marry one of the many suitors her grandparents welcome to their home. This is the same thing that happened to Deya’s mother when she left Palestine as a teenager to marry Deya’s father. Deya believed both died in a car accident. Or did they?

One day, a secret note from a mysterious woman makes Deya question everything she knows about her past and what it means for her future.

In the Eye of the Sun by Ahdaf Soueif

Asya is thinking about her life. As her beloved uncle is about to have an operation in London, the novel flashes back to a significant phase in her life as a young woman in 1960s Cairo.

Growing up in an affluent, liberal and educated family, Asya’s life changes against the backdrop of the Arab-Israeli war. The social and geopolitical effects of the war have a significant effect on her family's dynamics. As a means of escape, Asya marries a westernised man and life starts to take a semblance of normality.

But once again, everything changes when Asya, while studying for her graduate degree, meets a larger-than-life Englishman.

Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea

Gamrah, Sadeem, Michelle and Lamees are part of upper middle class Saudi society. And while that has its perks, the group of friends also have their own dreams and desires. While they attempt to explore a different life, they quickly understand that they run the risk of disappointing their families.

The novel has been praised and criticised for its portrayal of contemporary Saudi life and its open exploration of issues pertaining to young Arab women such as identity, love and attempting to balance a “modern” way of life with traditional values.

The Blue Between Sky and Water by Susan Abulhawa

The story of four generations of Palestinian women in Gaza is explored in this powerful story. After being violently expelled from their farming village of Beit Daras, the women of one family are left to be both breadwinners and protectors of their loved ones.

Nazmiyeh, the matriarch of a household of sisters, daughters and granddaughters, attempts against all odds – as she navigates personal, military and political landmines – to keep her family safe and alive.

A Certain Woman by Hala El Badry

Nahid is an archaeologist who is looking into the past as well as into herself to search for liberation. Nahid's story is a journey inward, a quest where she seeks to break free from her own self-imposed beliefs that have severely affected her sense of self.

She is an unreliable narrator, which makes her journey, feelings, thoughts and memories at times strange if not fantastical. While she is strangely attracted to the idea of keeping up appearances from her middle-class upbringing, Nahid must also confront questions of love and intimacy within her loveless marriage to Mustafa, and her relationship with novelist and journalist Omar, who himself is trapped in a marriage that is very different from her own.