Reviews with content warning for Islamophobia - Bride of the Sea

Reviews tagging 'Islamophobia'

Bride of the Sea by Eman Quotah

4 reviews

carolinefaireymeese's review against another edition

challenging reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

The best qualities of this book were the textured and palpable descriptions and the refusal to condemn or reify any character. It jumps quickly through time, leaving all summary of character development off-screen, which led the three main characters to sometimes feel like archetypes of "mother," "father," "daughter." Much of this book takes place in one-character reminiscence, but the best moments happen on the brink of connection: Saeedah following Muneer and Hanadi to the ice cream parlor; Muneer's mother attending a far-off wedding to find her middle-aged son a bride against all hope and dignity; Hannah visiting her mother with a new baby only to turn around and get back on another flight rather than watch her baptism. The merging of characters' innate flaws and the strictures impressed upon them (being a Saudi woman, being an immigrant, being arrested for speaking out against government(s), being a fatherless child, able to speak only English with your Arabic-speaking extended family) means that it is impossible to divine whether anyone is past the point of redemption or just doing the best they could.

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introvertinterrupted's review

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challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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deedireads's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

All my reviews live at https://deedispeaking.com/reads/.

TL;DR REVIEW:

Bride of the Sea is a beautiful debut about belonging, culture, and family; a vivid story following three unforgettable characters over the course of many years.

For you if: You like stories that span decades.

FULL REVIEW:

“At night, lying on a thin mattress next to his brother with the book-hard pillows he wasn’t used to anymore, Muneer wanted to put his hand into his chest and pull his whole heart out. He tried. He placed his fingers against his sternum and pressed harder and harder until it hurt and his fingers seized up and he had to go outside to stretch them out and moan with pain and grief because he might wake up his brother if he stayed inside.”

Bride of the Sea is a truly beautiful debut. Eamon Quotah has crafted a rich, sweeping, emotional story about three sharply defined and unforgettable characters. I enjoyed this book very much — thank you to Tin House for the review copy.

The three main characters are Muneer and Saeedah/Sadie, who are briefly married, and Hanadi/Hannah, their daughter. A few years after Muneer and Saeedah divorce and he moves back to Jidda, Saudi Arabia, Saeedah disappears with Hanadi. Over the course of decades and across oceans, the book alternates through the three characters’ perspectives as Muneer never gives up on finding his daughter, Hannah seeks belonging and family, and Sadie reckons with the world she’s created for herself.

I’m a sucker for beautiful prose and characters who carry the reader through both heartbreak and joy. I loved all three of them in their own way — Muneer with his big heart, Sadie with her individualism and drive, and Hannah with her fierce determination to be her own person.

This also may be the first book I’ve read that takes place (partly) in Saudi Arabia. You can feel Quotah’s love for the country and for Jidda, even as characters push back against or resist some of the particularly conservative or patriarchal aspects of its culture.

All in all, a really lovely debut. If you like books that span decades and deal with themes of family, culture, and identity, pick this one up.

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suzyreadsbooks's review

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emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Thanks @tin_house for the ARC!

As I read the book, I often struggled with how little we knew about Saeedah. We never knew what changed when Muneer & Saeedah left Saudi Arabia for America, what pushed their relationship to a breaking point, or the final straw leading her to kidnap Hanadi. However, that was never the point of this story. From the beginning, we see her quiet, stubborn determination to live her life for herself, in whatever way she desires. It felt true to life that Saeedah wouldn’t let us in.

As her daughter says later in the book, it doesn’t so much matter why Saeedah did what she did; what matters most is the impact of those actions. And what stands out in this book is how the whole family’s future rested in Saeedah’s hands, and the excellent portrayals of grief and resilience and shaky relationships that lived in the aftermath.

As the book progressed, it really sped up, moving past entire decades before it felt like time to leave. To wrap up these scenes towards the end of a time period, the next few events would be summed up in the future tense. (e.g. “X will happen. He will be left feeling Z.”) This distanced me from the day-to-day choices in these characters’ lives, and these moments often felt like unfinished scenes, rather than cliffhangers.

Journalism played a big role in the book since Saeedah’s father & Muneer both worked at Saudi newspapers. This plot device helped highlight the ways the family was impacted by events including the Gulf War and 9/11. But, again, the time jumps seemed to work as an opposing force, limiting any exploration of these impacts to a quick snapshot.

Still, even with the uneven pace, it kept my attention. It’s been awhile since I’ve read a character-driven, multigenerational novel, and I sped through this one. It’s not a new favorite, but I’m glad I read it, and happy that I took time to reflect & gain additional appreciation for it.

[TWs: kidnapping, emotional abuse, gaslighting, imprisonment, Gulf War, 9/11, racial profiling, Islamophobia]

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