Sara, a philosophy professor at Kuwait University, has long had an uneasy relationship with her homeland. But after her mother's death, inertia keeps her there until she is accused of blasphemy and faces the threat of execution. As she awaits trial, Sara is forced to reckon with her place in the world and the women who shaped her. Her grandmothers' lives span privilege and poverty: Yasmine, who married the son of a Pasha and soon regretted it, and Lulwa, swept from hardship into the wealth of an Indian merchant's household. Then there are her two mothers: Noura, restless for America, and Maria, the devoted ayah who leaves her own children behind in Pune to raise Sara and her brother.A sweeping saga, An Unlasting Home captures the tragedies and triumphs of three generations of Arab women in one unforgettable tale.
'A smooth, fast-flowing narrative...a testament to the eternal vibrancy and pluck of women in the Arab world.' Financial Times
'So fresh and unsettling that it will enchant you from the first page and linger for days after reading.' Los Angeles Review of Books
'Accomplished and searing.' Publishers Weekly
'Al-Nakib writes imaginative tales with grace, lucidity and intelligence. Poignant and profound.' Selma Dabbagh, author of Out of It
'Passionate and skilful. Every detail lands perfectly and leaves the reader altered.' A.L. Kennedy, author of Paradise
'Urgent storytelling of the lives of generations of women...with an exquisite and necessary philosophical discourse.' Ira Mathur, author of Love the Dark Days
'Al-Nakib lyrically explores themes of homeland, tradition and agency.' Ms. Magazine
'Al-Nakib's storyteller's voice is fresh and original her book grabbed me and kept me entranced to the last page.' Diana Abu-Jaber, author ofCrescent
Industry Reviews
"So fresh and unsettling that it will enchant you from the first page and linger for days after reading. ... Deftly written. ... Its epic family saga style echoes that of Hala Alyan's Salt Houses and The Arsonists' City, Ayad Akhtar's Homeland Elegies, and Min Jin Lee's Pachinko." Los Angeles Review of Books,
"Grapples profoundly with the limits of individual choice and the hold exerted by a person's homeland...accomplished and searing." Publishers Weekly (starred review),
"Mai Al-Nakib lyrically explores themes of homeland, tradition and agency as she relates the stories of generations of Arab women across Kuwait, the US, Iraq, India and Lebanon." Ms. Magazine
"Deeply enchanting, at times suspenseful, and always engaging, An Unlasting Home is filled with tales of women's lives and their intersection with the often volatile and unpredictable currents of nations, war, and political history. Mai Al-Nakib's storyteller's voice is fresh and original-her book grabbed me from the outset and kept me entranced to the last page." Diana Abu-Jaber, author of Fencing with the King and Crescent,
"An Unlasting Home is an unforgettable story of people making choices for love, family, freedom, and identity against the tidal forces of history in the Arab region. Shimmering with poetic prose, and as pressingly real as the white heat of August in Baghdad, this poignant debut will keep you in its thrall." Juhea Kim, author of Beasts of a Little Land,
"An ambitious family epic with a historical sweep, an elegy to grandmothers and mothers who were forced from their original homes by personal or political circumstances in the Middle East to build nests elsewhere." World Literature Today
"A spellbinding family history unfolds as a Kuwaiti woman goes on trial for blasphemy in a world gone mad. Deftly written, structurally brilliant, Mai Al-Nakib's An Unlasting Home is a lasting novel that splits open time, leaps across continents, and creates the sort of characters we carry forward into our hearts and lives. I absolutely loved this book." A. Manette Ansay, author of Vinegar Hill,
"An author already confident in her craft and her ability to give voice to the emotions and yearnings of her characters." New Internationalist
"A mesmerising saga of women's resilience in the face of political turmoil." Buzz Magazine
'A smooth, fast-flowing narrative [...] a testament to the eternal vibrancy of women in the Arab world.' * Financial Times *
