Skip to content

Celestial Bodies

Celestial Bodies

Historical FictionLiterary Fiction
Pages
256
Published
2018
Language
English

Synopsis

In the Omani village of al-Awafi, three sisters navigate their lives and loves. Mayya marries after a heartbreak, Asma out of duty, and Khawla waits for a man who has emigrated. Their individual journeys, losses, and relationships unfold against the backdrop of a rapidly changing Oman, as the country transitions from a traditional, slave-owning society into its modern present.

Prose complexity
7/10

Vibe

EmotionalReflectiveThought-ProvokingComplex
Family SagaMultiple POVsComing of Age

Genres

Historical Fiction Literary Fiction

About the author

J
Jokha Alharthi

Jokha Alharthi is an Omani novelist and academic, born in 1978. She holds a PhD in classical Arabic literature from the University of Edinburgh and teaches at Sultan Qaboos University in Muscat. Her novel Celestial Bodies (Arabic: Sayyidat al-Qamar), translated into English by Marilyn Booth, made her the first Arab author to win the International Booker Prize, in 2019. Her fiction explores family life and societal change in Oman.

Characters

MayyaProtagonist
AsmaProtagonist
KhawlaProtagonist
All characters in Celestial Bodies