 First edition cover | |
| Author | Eman Quotah |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Tin House |
Publication date | January 26, 2021 |
| ISBN | 9781951142452 |
Bride of the Sea is a 2021 novel by Arab-American writer Eman Quotah.
| First edition cover | |
| Author | Eman Quotah |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Tin House |
Publication date | January 26, 2021 |
| ISBN | 9781951142452 |
Bride of the Sea is a 2021 novel by Arab-American writer Eman Quotah.
Bride of the Sea follows Muneer and Saeedah over four decades. Beginning in the 1970s, Muneer and Saeedah are newlywed Saudi Arabian immigrants who have settled in Cleveland, Ohio. During Saeedah's pregnancy, Muneer begins to doubt that they will remain married. Although they have been friends since childhood, Muneer does not believe they are suited to be married. Six years into their marriage, Muneer's doubts come to fruition, and the couple divorces. Muneer returns to Saudi Arabia while Saeedah remain in the United States with their daughter, Hanadi. Afraid her daughter may be taken from her, Saeedah disappears with her now five-year-old daughter, and Muneer spends years searching for his child. Muneer and Hanadi finally reconvene when Hanadi is 17, and Hanadi, who now goes by Hannah, attempts to reconcile what she knew about her mother and early life and what her father shares with her.
According to literary review aggregator Book Marks, the novel received reviews the site characterized as "Rave", "Positive", and "Mixed". [1]
In a starred review, Booklist 's Shoba Viswanathan called the novel "gripping" and highlighted how it "offers thoughtful observations about religious identity, and provides vignettes of Saudi culture". Viswanathan further noted, "Geopolitics is integral to the story, serving as a backdrop for all the developments. Quotah’s deft characterization and pacing, combined with an inside look at Saudi Arabian life, make this debut a compelling and worthy read." [2]
Michael Welch of The Chicago Review of Books wrote,
One of fiction’s greatest possibilities is how it can exist as something both intimate and grand, simultaneously exploring the life of a character and the world they are growing into, until one narrative unfolds into many. Bride of the Sea does just this, as the novel intertwines the dissolution and reconstruction of a single family with the evolving histories of the United States and Saudi Arabia. Eman Quotah deftly spans decades, miles, and cultures—and ultimately tells more stories within her 312 page debut than some authors tell across their entire careers. [3]
The Washington Post's Keija Parssinen similarly wrote, "Where journalism constrains with word counts and column inches [...], novels offer the capaciousness to reveal a society in its complexity; to raise a headline-flattened people into three dimensions [...] Quotah does this with aplomb, offering Americans a more nuanced view of the Saudi kingdom through a cast of compelling characters and a sweeping plot that spans continents and decades." [4]
Publishers Weekly wrote, "The narrative’s delicacy belies the weight of its themes, and descriptions are etched with precision [...] Quotah’s resonant, neatly plotted outing will be a treat for readers who love fractured family dramas." [5]
On behalf of the Star Tribune , Eric Nguyen highlighted how the novel, which "fluidly rotates between each family member's perspective", provides "a sensitive portrayal of becoming American—both the shedding of one's culture for the sake of fitting in and the difficult task of finding one's place, especially as an Arab American". Nguyen also discussed Quotah's characters:
While Quotah should be praised for the fleshed-out development of Muneer [...] and Hanadi [...], Saeedah is the author's most interesting creation, an enigmatic character who's full of quiet and frustrating surprises. One just wishes there was more of her point of view on the page [...]. Still, in a novel as much about finding one's identity as it is about family—the way they belong to us but at the same time remain unknowable—this sense of secrecy that Quotah imparts on Saeedah makes for a devastatingly honest novel. [6]
Although referring to the novel as "impressive", Fran Hawthorne, writing for The New York Journal of Books, critiqued the development of Saeedah's character. Hawthorne writes, "While pages and pages of often powerful writing are devoted to Hanadi’s and Muneer’s points of view, Saeedah’s voice is as stifled as if she were living in the most rigid, traditional Saudi household ... She is granted just one sentence justifying the kidnapping and no opportunity to explain some of her other wild actions [...] There is little sense of any fear, love, anxiety, annoyance, or triumph she might be feeling." [7]
Kirkus Reviews called Bride of the Sea "a rich, finely rendered novel". [8]
Library Journal's Faye Chadwell [9] and the Washington Independent Review of Books's Kristin H. Macomber also reviewed the novel. [10]
Booklist included Bride of the Sea on their list of the top ten debut novels of 2021. [11]
Bride of the Sea won the 2022 Arab American Book Award. [12]
The Arabian Peninsula, or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate. At 3,237,500 km2 (1,250,000 sq mi), comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world.
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia and the Middle East. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about 2150000 km2, making it the fifth-largest country in Asia and the largest in the Middle East. It is bordered by the Red Sea to the west; Jordan, Iraq, and Kuwait to the north; the Persian Gulf, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to the east; Oman to the southeast; and Yemen to the south. Bahrain is an island country off its east coast. The Gulf of Aqaba in the northwest separates Saudi Arabia from Egypt and Israel. Saudi Arabia is the only country with a coastline along both the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, and most of its terrain consists of arid desert, lowland, steppe, and mountains. The capital and largest city is Riyadh; the kingdom also hosts Islam's two holiest cities of Mecca and Medina.
The cultural setting of Saudi Arabia is greatly influenced by the Arab and Islamic culture. The society is in general deeply religious, conservative, traditional, and family-oriented. Many attitudes and traditions are centuries-old, derived from Arab civilization and Islamic heritage. However, its culture has also been affected by rapid change, as the country was transformed from an impoverished nomadic society into a rich commodity producer in just a few years in the 1970s. This change has also been affected by and the result of a number of factors including the communications revolution and external scholarships. The most recent ruler or king of Saudi is King Salman of Saudi Arabia.
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Maha Al-Saati is a Saudi Arabian female filmmaker, university assistant professor and graduate of Simon Fraser University who has taught both in Vancouver, Canada and Saudi Arabia. Her academic research covers the representation of architectural spaces, education through the use of film, and the influence of religion and culture on media. She is also an alum of the TIFF filmmaker lab 2020, TIFF Writers Studio 2021, and recipient of the TIFF Share Her Journey award 2020. She is of mixed Arab and Uzbek heritage.
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