Description
"Warda tells the story of Rushdy, an aging journalist and political radical, who finds himself on a quest for his lost youthful idealism during a visit to his relatives living comfortable lives in the Sultanate of Oman. The quest takes him to the bucolic, remote region of Dhofar with its intriguing political history, and he finds himself in search of some trace of an Omani woman who once inspired him. Having befriended her and her older brother when they all lived in Cairo during the radical sixties, he finds himself piecing together her inspiring story of passion, commitment, revolution, and mystery. Since its publication in the year 2000, the reputation of Warda as a major contemporary work of fiction has grown throughout the Middle East and Europe. Its emphasis on popular revolt in the Arab world has gained relevance and its engagement with the Arab woman's role in social change appears particularly prescient. The emphasis on the southern part of the Arabian peninsula--which may have struck some readers as quaint in 2000--also seems particularly pertinent today, as the world finds itself in a tight embrace with the region in all its unique centrality. The texturing of this history in so carefully crafted of a literary novel will draw the attention of all sophisticated English language readers with an interest in global perspectives"--