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The Dove's Necklace: A Novel
The Dove's Necklace: A Novel | Raja Alem
8 posts | 3 read | 23 to read
The stunning novel that explores the secret life of Mecca by the first woman to win the international prize for Arabic fiction. When the body of a young woman is discovered in the Lane of Many Heads, an alley in modern-day Mecca, no one will claim it, as they are all ashamed of her nakedness. As Detective Nasser pursues his investigation of the case, seemingly all of Mecca chimes inincluding the Lane of Many Heads itselfin this brilliant, funny, profane, and enigmatic fever dream of a novel by Raja Alem, the first woman to win the International Prize for Arabic Fiction. Nasser initially suspects that the dead woman is Aisha, one of the residents of the Area, and he searches her emails for clues. The world she paints embraces everything from crime and religious extremism to the exploitation of foreign workers by a mafia of building contractors, who are destroying the historic areas of the city. In stark relief with this grimness is the beauty of her love letters to her German boyfriend. Another view reveals the city through the eyes of Yusuf, Aisha's neighbor, increasingly frustrated by the acceleration pace of change. As gripping as classic noir, nuanced as a Nabokov novel, and labyrinthine as the alleys of Mecca itself, this powerful and disturbing work of fiction masterfully reveals a city and a civilization in all its contradictions, at once beholden to brutal customs and uneasily coming to terms with new traditions. Raja Alem's singular The Dove's Necklace is a virtuosic work of literature that deserves the world's attention.
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blurb
DGRachel
DGRachel
The Dove's Necklace | Raja Alem
post image

Switching from ebook to print for this one because while I like the writing, I‘m finding the story hard to follow and need to be able to easily flip back to sections I‘ve already read. I like the kindle cover better, though. 😂

69 likes1 stack add
quote
DGRachel
DGRachel
The Dove's Necklace | Raja Alem
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🤬
I have to keep reminding myself that this is a completely different culture and part of the author‘s point is to expose just how terrible elements of this culture are, particularly with regard to women, but this makes me so angry 😤

50 likes
blurb
sumaiyya.books
sumaiyya.books
The Dove's Necklace: A Novel | Raja Alem
post image

This novel is by a Saudi writer, and you may know I'm from Saudi Arabia, so it makes me so happy to finally have a book from the country where I live ❤️ The writing is so beautiful, bold and exquisite. Raja Alem unveils the Saudi society in this brilliant murder mystery. Although I'm only about 50 pages in I'm really loving it — This is a MUST READ if you like reading books.

BookishMarginalia What a gorgeous kitty! 7y
TheLondonBookworm Amazing, definitely stacked for reading! ☺️ 7y
BarbaraBB Thank you for the mentioning, I'll definitely get a copy, I have never read a saudi writer. 7y
See All 7 Comments
8little_paws Hello beautiful kitty!!! 7y
Jas_thebookthief Adding it to my to-buy list 😀 7y
readulteress I have a newfound love for non-white authors and this is definitely going on my tbr 😍 7y
Wbabdullah Thank you so much for sharing! It'd be great to get an inside view of "the kingdom" without a book that romanticizes veils and hijab, and/or bashes Islam! Can't wait to read InshaAllah!! #diversebooks #ownvoices #muslimshelfspace 7y
76 likes17 stack adds7 comments
blurb
Smrloomis
Smrloomis
The Dove's Necklace | Raja Alem
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Impulse buy 🎉🎉🎉

53 likes
review
MDodge
MDodge
The Dove's Necklace | Raja Alem
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Pickpick

Finally done! This book is so dense and complex, I think I probably have to read it again to understand it. But she's a great writer, such great descriptions and details! Also, almost done with read harder challenge - this was my book set in the Middle East.

4 likes
blurb
MDodge
MDodge
The Dove's Necklace | Raja Alem
post image

Man, this book goes slowly but it's so worth it. This feels especially poignant considering recent events, even though it comes from an entirely different context.

4 likes
blurb
MDodge
MDodge
The Dove's Necklace: A Novel | Raja Alem
post image

Current hall from the library. I've been reading the dove's necklace for forever but hope to finish it soon... can't wait to read the other two!

2 likes
review
chlobee
chlobee
The Dove's Necklace | Raja Alem
Pickpick

This book totally blew me away. Raja Alem writes with such intoxicating confidence that I couldn't help but let the dark and sometimes occult underbelly of Mecca pull me in. I will have to return to this one again to peel back more of its twisting layers. One of my top reads this year for sure.

3 likes