Celestial Bodies - Supernormal Reads

paperback, 256 pages

Published Oct. 8, 2019 by Catapult.

ISBN:: 978-1-948226-94-3

(1 review)

Celestial Bodies is set in the village of al-Awafi in Oman, where we encounter three sisters: Mayya, who marries Abdallah after a heartbreak; Asma, who marries from a sense of duty; and Khawla who rejects all offers while waiting for her beloved, who has emigrated to Canada. These three women and their families witness Oman evolve from a traditional, slave-owning society slowly redefining itself after the colonial era, to the crossroads of its complex present. Elegantly structured and taut, 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.

5 editions

ralentina reviewed Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi

A fragmented family history

3 stars

The first thing I learnt about this book is that it is the first Omani book translated into English. I don't mean to sound harsh, but perhaps that's the most interesting thing about it. Really, it isn't meant as a dismissal of the book: the author is very skillful at painting a picture of life in this small village on the verge of the desert, and the ways it changes over the year. The book is a sort of family saga, told through short fragments, with each chapter focusing on a different member, in a non-chronological order. I was struck by the women characters in the book, who are very well-rounded, victims of their circumstances but incredibly strong.