“Finding Nouf,” by Zoë Ferraris, 305 pages; mystery set in Saudi Arabia. A 2009 Alex Award winner.
If you've read this book, please leave a comment about it and whether you think it would be of interest to a wide audience of 30,000 university readers.
3 comments:
The more I read this book the more I liked it. Its greatest strength is how it teaches about the complexities of negotiating all the distinct rules for gender behavior within Saudi society from the perspectives of likeable characters within that culture. It also teaches about the desert, as well as multiculturral concerns in that part of the world, and alerts us to some of the roles American expats and culture play in that kingdom.
It is a mystery/romance. The mystery is a bit slow going and could lose the interest of readers accustomed to more action and adventure. I also wonder if many young male readers might start to abandon the book the more that it plays up the "finding the right one" romance angle as it progresses. The main character is noble, a devout Muslim Palestinian raised to be a guide in the Saudi desert. His love interest, who helps him investigate the murder, is a woman in a burqa who nevertheless has a PhD in Science.
this book is top of my list for the program so far. i think it does a great job of providing an engaging story (though a bit predictable) and also telling about the life and culture of a place most of us know very little about (Saudi Arabia).
the prose is a bit cumbersome at times and the writing is not the best we've seen, but i think it will capture the attention of the readers on campus and certainly provides lots of food for thought.
I would not recommend this book as highly as others for our reading program. I found the plot predictable and forced; the writing style is not as sophisticated as that of other writers we're considering; and I'm not sure, given its length at 300 pages, that it says anything particularly detailed or nuanced about Saudi society--I kept wanting more in this respect. The mystery aspect of the novel (probably its most engaging) felt like an imitation of Raymond Chandler set in Saudi Arabia, though Zoe Ferraris doesn't quite have Chandler's chops.
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