Discover the Middle East through the eyes of different characters and authors with this selection of novels set in various locations, including Palestine, Iraq, Turkey, and Egypt, offering readers a glimpse into the rich and diverse cultures of the Middle East.
My First and Only Love: A Novel by Sahar Khalifeh, translated by Aida Bamia (Hoopoe, 2021)
Sahar Khalifeh is a Palestinian author, and, in her novel, she takes readers on a journey through Palestinian history, culture, and the complexities of love and resistance.
The novel provides a deeper understanding of Palestinian struggles and the enduring spirit of its people.
A Stranger in Baghdad: A Novel by Elizabeth Loudon (Hoopoe, 2023).
Elizabeth Loudon is an English author, and, in her novel, she tells the story of a mother and her daughter struggling as outsiders in Baghdad and London, and a wider story of a family and their involvement in Iraqi and British politics, from the interwar period to the late twentieth century.
The novel reflects on the dynamics of cross-cultural marriage and women’s lives caught between different worlds.
A Recipe for Daphne: A Novel by Nektaria Anastasiadou (Hoopoe, 2021).
Nektaria Anastasiadou, who resides Istanbul, tells a story about a close group of friends who belong to the Rum—Greek Orthodox Christian—community in Istanbul.
Through this contemporary narrative, readers are invited into the intimate world of Istanbul’s oldest community, offering glimpses into their kitchens, relationships, and secret lives.
The Book Smuggler: A Novel by Omaima Al-Khamis, translated by Sarah Enany (Hoopoe, 2021)
Omaima Al-Khamis, who is from Saudi Arabia, writes in the style of the renowned Arab explorers and travel writers of the Middle Ages, to tell the story of a young man and his journey from his faraway village in the Arabian Desert to the Islamic world’s great medieval cities.
He dreams of big libraries and loves books so much that he joins a group of people who secretly smuggle books. This takes him to the famed cultural centers of the period, such as Baghdad, Jerusalem, Cairo, Granada, and Cordoba.
The Woman from Tantoura: A Novel from Palestine by Radwa Ashour, translated by Kay Heikkinen (Hoopoe, 2019)
Egyptian author Radwa Ashour tells the story of a Palestinian woman displaced from her home. The novel offers an understanding of the Nakba and the forced displacement of the Palestinians and what it means for a person to lose their homeland and become a refugee.
The Girl with Braided Hair: A Novel by Rasha Adly, translated by Sarah Enany (Hoopoe, 2020)
This work of historical fiction by Egyptian writer Rasha Adly explores the lives of two women living centuries apart and who are bound together by an enigmatic painting. Yasmine, an art historian uncovers a mysterious secret hidden within an unsigned portrait of a beautiful girl from the Napoleonic era. At the same time, the novel follows Zeinab, a sixteen-year-old daughter of a prominent sheikh during the French Campaign in Egypt.
The Open Door: A Novel by Latifa al-Zayyat, translated by Marilyn Booth (Hoopoe, 2017)
Egyptian author Latifa al-Zayyat’s novel portrays the main protagonist Layla’s quest for freedom. Layla’s story mirrors Egypt’s fight to break free from British imperialist control, and the societal rules that limit and circumscribe a young woman’s life.
