Celestial Bodies is a coiled spring of a novel, telling of Oman’s coming-of-age through the prism of one family’s losses and loves.
Brings a distinctive and important new voice to world literature.
A richly imagined, engaging and poetic insight into a society in transition and into lives previously obscured.
Fascinating.
Alharthi has a strong narrative gift, transporting the reader into all the intimacies of a close-knit family group.
It skilfully builds suspense by creating “Aha!” moments as characters come to better understand their pasts.
Finished it in a couple of sittings, addictive, compelling, informative and completely fascinating to read! Definitely recommend it, fingers crossed it appears on the short list too.
A beautifully written and very moving story.
‘Compelling...’
Blends the rhythms of daily life with magic and legend.
Delivers the reader immediately into the world of the marginal, forgotten, most subaltern sectors of society.
This novel is interesting as a lens through which to view an important time in the transition of Omani society.
Jokha Alharthi is the author of two previous collections of short fiction, a children’s book, and three novels in Arabic. Fluent in English, she completed a PhD in Classical Arabic Poetry in Edinburgh, and teaches at Sultan Qaboos University in Muscat. She has been shortlisted for the Sahikh Zayed Award for Young Writers and her short stories have been published in English, German, Italian, Korean, and Serbian.