Finding Nouf: A Novel

By Zoë Ferraris

A Palestinian P.I. investigates the death of a pregnant Saudi teenager in a mystery that offers “a fascinating glimpse into the workings…of Saudi society” (Publishers Weekly).
 
When sixteen-year-old Nouf ash-Shrawi goes missing, her prominent family calls on desert guide Nayir al-Sharqi to lead a search party. Ten days later, Nouf’s body is discovered. The coroner determines that she was several weeks pregnant. But even more unsettling is that she died not of dehydration but from drowning. Though her family is suspiciously uninterested in getting at the truth, Nayir is determined to find out what happened.
 
Now Nayir, a gentle and pious Palestinian living in Saudi Arabia, must delve into Nouf’s secret life—no easy task in one of the world’s most rigidly gender-segregated societies. Shocked by the idea of a woman baring her face and working in public, Nayir realizes that to gain access to the hidden world of Saudi women, he will have to join forces with Katya Hijazi, a lab worker at the coroner’s office. As their partnership leads to surprising revelations, it also challenges Nayir, bringing him face to face with his desire for female companionship and the limitations imposed by his beliefs.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: May 6, 2009
• ISBN: 9780547429922

Book preview

[Image]

Contents

---

Title Page

Contents

Copyright

Epigraph

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

About the Author

Copyright © 2008 by Zoë Ferraris

All rights reserved

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to [e-mail] or to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 3 Park Avenue, 19th Floor, New York, New York 10016.

www.hmhco.com

The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:

Ferraris, Zoë.

Finding Nouf / Zoë Ferraris.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-0-618-87388-3 (alk. paper)

1. Teenage girls—Fiction. 2. Runaway children—Fiction. 3. Saudi Arabia—Fiction. 1. Title.

PS3606.E738F56 2008

813.'6—dc22 2007038411

eISBN 978-0-547-42992-2

v2.0316

Marriage is my practice.

One who forsakes this practice of mine is not from me.

—MUHAMMAD

1

BEFORE THE SUN SET that evening, Nayir filled his canteen, tucked a prayer rug beneath his arm, and climbed the south-facing dune near the camp. Behind him came a burst of loud laughter from one of the tents, and he imagined that his men were playing cards, probably tarneeb, and passing the siddiqi around. Years of traveling in the desert had taught him that it was impossible to stop people from doing whatever they liked. There was no law out here, and if the men wanted alcohol, they would drink. It disgusted Nayir that they would wake up on Friday morning, the holy day, their bodies putrefied with gin. But he said nothing. After ten days of fruitless searching, he was not in the mood to chastise.

He scaled the dune at an easy pace, stopping only once he’d reached the crest. From here he had a sprawling view of the desert valley, crisp and flat, surrounded by low dunes that undulated in the golden color of sunset. But his eye was drawn to the blot on the landscape: half a dozen vultures hunched over a jackal’s carcass. It was the reason they’d stopped here—another false lead.

Two days ago they’d given up scouring the desert and started following the vultures instead, but every flock of vultures only brought the sight of a dead jackal or gazelle. It was a relief, of course, but a disappointment too. He still held out hope that they would find her.

Taking his compass from his pocket, he found the direction of Mecca and pointed his prayer rug there. He opened his canteen and took a precautionary sniff. The water smelled tinny. He took a swig, then quickly knelt on the sand to perform his ablutions. He scrubbed his arms, neck, and hands, and when he was finished screwed the canteen tightly shut, relishing the brief coolness of water on his skin.

Standing above the rug, he began to pray, but his thoughts continually turned to Nouf. For the sake of modesty, he tried not to imagine her face or her body, but the more he thought about her, the more vivid she became. In his mind she was walking through the desert, leaning into the wind, black cloak whipping against her sunburned ankles. Allah forgive me for imagining her ankles, he thought. And then: At least I think she’s still alive.

When he wasn’t praying, he imagined other things about her. He saw her kneeling and shoveling sand into her mouth, mistaking it for water. He saw her sprawled on her back, the metal of a cell phone burning a brand onto her palm. He saw the jackals tearing her body to pieces. During prayers he tried to reverse these fears and imagine her still struggling. Tonight his mind fought harder than ever to give life to what felt like a hopeless case.

Prayers finished, he felt more tired than before. He rolled up the rug and sat on the sand at the very edge of the hill, looking out at the dunes that surrounded the valley. The wind picked up and stroked the desert floor, begging a few grains of sand to flaunt its elegance, while the earth shed its skin with a ripple and seemed to take flight. The bodies of the dunes changed endlessly with the winds. They rose into peaks or slithered like snake trails. The Bedouin had taught him how to interpret the shapes to determine the chance of a sandstorm or the direction of tomorrow’s wind. Some Bedouin believed that the forms held prophetic meanings too. Right now the land directly ahead of him formed a series of crescents, graceful half-moons that rolled toward the horizon. Crescents meant change was in the air.

His thoughts turned to the picture in his pocket. Checking to see that no one was coming up the hill behind him, he took the picture out and allowed himself the rare indulgence of studying a woman’s face.

Nouf ash-Shrawi stood in the center of the frame, smiling happily as she cut a slice of cake at her younger sister’s birthday party. She had a long nose, black eyes, and a gorgeous smile; it was hard to imagine that just four weeks after the picture was taken she had run away—to the desert, no less—leaving everything behind: a fiancé, a luxurious life, and a large, happy family. She’d even left the five-year-old sister who stood beside her in the picture, looking up at her with heartbreaking adoration. Why? he wondered. Nouf was only sixteen. She had a whole life in front of her.

And where did she go?

When Othman had phoned and told him about his sister’s disappearance, he had sounded weaker than Nayir had ever heard him. I’d give my blood, he stammered, if that would help find her. In the long silence that followed, Nayir knew he was crying; he’d heard the choke in his voice. Othman had never asked for anything before. Nayir said he would assist.

For many years he had taken the Shrawi men to the desert. In fact, he’d taken dozens of families just like the Shrawis, and they were all the same: rich and pompous, desperate to prove that they hadn’t lost their Bedouin birthright even though for most of them the country’s dark wells of petroleum would always be more compelling than its topside. But Othman was different. He was one of the few men who loved the desert as much as Nayir and who had the brains to enjoy his adventures. He didn’t mount a camel until someone told him how to get off. He didn’t get sunburn. He didn’t get lost. Drawn together by a mutual love of the desert, he and Nayir had fallen into an easy friendship that had deepened over the years.

On the telephone Othman was so distraught that the story came out in confusing fragments. His sister was gone. She had run away. Maybe she’d been kidnapped. Because of their wealth, it was possible that someone wanted ransom money—but kidnappings were rare, and there was no ransom note yet. Only a day had passed, but it seemed long enough. Nayir had to pry to get the facts. No one knew exactly when she had left; they only noticed she was missing in the late afternoon. She had last been seen in the morning, when she told her mother she was going to the mall to exchange a pair of shoes. But by evening the family had discovered that other things were gone too: a pickup truck, the new black cloak she was saving for the honeymoon. When they realized that a camel was missing from the stables, they decided she’d run away to the desert.

Her disappearance had taken everyone by surprise. She was happy, Othman said. She was about to get married.

Maybe she got nervous? Nayir asked gently.

No, she wanted this marriage.

If there was more to the story, Othman wasn’t saying.

Nayir spent the next day making preparations. He refused the lavish payment the family offered, taking only what he needed. He hired fifty-two camels, contacted every desert man he knew, and even called the Ministry of the Interior’s Special Services to see if they could track her by military satellite, but their overhead optics were reserved for other things. Still, he managed to compose a search-and-rescue team involving several dozen men and a unit of part-time Bedouin who wouldn’t even look at Nouf’s picture, claiming that they didn’t need to, that there was only one type of woman for whom being stranded in the largest desert in the world was a kind of improvement on her daily life. The men developed a theory that Nouf had eloped with an American lover to escape her arranged marriage. It was hard to say why they all believed the idea. There had been a few cases of rich Saudi girls falling for American men, and they were shocking enough to linger in the collective memory. But it wasn’t as frequent as people supposed, and as far as Nayir knew, no Saudi girl had ever eloped to the desert.

The Shrawis asked Nayir to focus his search on one area of the desert, with radii extending outward from As Sulayyil. They stationed other search parties to the north and northwest, and one to the southwest. He would have liked more liberty to expand his operations at his own discretion, but as it was, he was hemmed in by strangers who seldom bothered to communicate with him. So he ignored the rules. Two days into it, he ordered his men to follow their instincts even if it took them into neighboring territory. If Nouf was still out there, her chances of survival decreased with every hour of daylight. This was no time to be formal, as if the search were a wedding dinner and the guests should be seated on their cushions just so.

Besides, his team was the largest, and although he didn’t often do search-and-rescue, he knew the desert better than most. He’d practically grown up in the desert. His uncle Samir had raised him, and Samir kept foreign friends: scholars, scientists, men who came to study the Red Sea, the birds and the fish, or the Bedouin way of life. Nayir spent summers chipping dirt on archaeological digs for rich Europeans who sought the tomb of Abraham or the remains of the gold that the Jews had carried from Egypt. He spent winters clutching the rear humps of camels, clattering through the sand with tin pots and canteens. He became an archer, a falconer, a survivalist of sorts who could find his way home from remote locations needing only a headscarf, water, and the sky. He wasn’t a Bedouin by blood, but he felt like one.

He’d never failed to find a lost traveler. If Nouf had run away, he had to assume that she didn’t want to be found. For ten days they scoured the dunes in Rovers, on camels, from airplanes and choppers, and frequently they found each other, which caused some relief, hard as it was to find anything living in all of that sand. But they did not find Nouf, and finally the reports that Nayir’s men placed before him began to suggest alternative theories in which she’d taken an overnight bus to Muscat or boarded an airplane for Amman.

He cursed the situation. Maybe she’d spent a night in the wild and decided it was too uncomfortable, too dirty, and she’d moved on. Yet Nayir feared that she had stayed, and now it was too late. It only took two days for a man to die in the desert. For a young girl from a wealthy family, a girl who had probably never left the comfort of an air-conditioned room, it would take less time than that.

The sunset showered the landscape in a warm orange light, and a stiff sirocco troubled the air. It stirred a sharp longing that reached beyond his concerns for Nouf. Lately he’d been overcome by thoughts of what was missing in his life. Irrationally, he felt that it wasn’t only Nouf he’d lost, it was the possibility of finding any woman. Closing his eyes, he asked Allah once again: What is Your plan for me? I trust in Your plan, but I’m impatient. Please reveal Your design.

Behind him came a shout. Quickly stuffing the picture back in his pocket, he stood up and saw one of his men at the bottom of the hill, pointing at a pair of headlights in the distance. Nayir grabbed his rug and canteen and scrambled down the dune. Someone was coming, and a desperate foreboding told him that it was bad news. He jogged along the bottom of the dune and waited as the Rover drove into camp. It stopped beside the largest tent.

Nayir didn’t recognize the young man at the wheel. He looked like a Bedouin with his sharp features and dark skin. He was wearing a leather bomber jacket over his dusty white robe, and when he stepped out of the car, he regarded Nayir with apprehension.

Nayir welcomed the guest and extended his hand. He knew he was too big and imposing to put anyone at ease, but he tried. Nervously, the boy introduced himself as Ibrahim Suleiman, a son of one of the Shrawi servants. The men gathered around, waiting for the news, but Ibrahim stood quietly, and Nayir realized that he wanted to speak in private.

He led the boy into the tent, praying that the men hadn’t been drinking after all. There was no worse way to disgrace oneself than to lead a man into a tent that smelled like alcohol. But the tent doors were open and the wind blew in, along with a generous spray of sand.

Inside, Nayir lit a lamp, offered his guest a floor cushion, and began preparing tea. He refrained from asking questions, but he hurried through the tea because he was eager to hear the news. Once it was ready, Nayir sat cross-legged beside his guest and waited for him to drink first.

Once the second cup had been poured, Ibrahim leaned forward and balanced his teacup on his knee. They found her, he said, his eyes lowered.

They did? The tension drained out of Nayir so suddenly that it hurt. Where?

About two kilometers south of the Shrawi campsite. She was in a wadi.

They’ve had men there for a week. Are they certain it’s her?

Yes.

Who found her?

We’re not sure. Someone who wasn’t working for the family. Travelers.

How do you know this?

Tahsin’s cousin Majid came to our camp and delivered the news. He’d spoken to the coroner. Ibrahim took another sip of his tea. He said that the travelers took her back to Jeddah. She was already dead.

Dead?

Yes. Ibrahim sat back. The travelers took her to the coroner’s office in Jeddah. They had no idea who she was.

It was over. He thought about his men outside, wondered if they would feel relief or disappointment. Probably relief. He wasn’t sure what to tell them about the girl. It was odd that the family’s own search party had been stationed near the wadi. A group of cousins and servants must have been right on top of her, yet they had missed her completely. They had also missed whoever had been traveling through the area. The travelers must have returned her body to the city before the Shrawis had even figured out that they’d passed through. All of this made Nayir uneasy, but he would have to double-check the information; it wasn’t exactly reliable.

How did the family find out about it? he asked.

Someone at the coroner’s office knows the family and called them to break the news.

Nayir nodded, still feeling numb. The teapot was empty. Slowly he stood and went to the stove. He poured more water into the pot and lit the match for the stove with a clumsy twitch, burning the tip of his thumb. The sharpness of the pain lit a spark inside him, a quick, fierce anger. The urge to find her was still strong. Forgive me for my pride, he thought. I should think about the family now. But he couldn’t.

He went back and sat down. Do you know how she died?

No. There was a sad acceptance in the boy’s eyes. Heat stroke, I imagine.

It’s a terrible way to die, Nayir said. I can’t help thinking there’s something we could have done.

I doubt it.

Why? Nayir asked. What do you think happened to her?

The Bedouin looked him straight in the eye. Same thing that happens to any girl, I think.

And what’s that? Nayir asked. Love? Sex? What do you know about it? Ibrahim’s face told him that it had been wrong to ask; the boy was blushing. Nayir wanted to know more, to pry the answers out of him, but he knew too that if Nouf’s death had happened because of love or sex, then any truthful reply would be less proper still. Modestly, he waited for an elaboration, but Ibrahim merely sipped his tea, resolute in his silence.

2

DANK AND GRUBBY, Rawashin Alley could not have less resembled a depot to Paradise, a terminal for bodies on their way to Allah. Yet the coroner’s building was there, tucked between two ugly office buildings and looking rather like a cousin of both. The upper part of the seventies-era structure was gray and boxy, with round concrete protrusions that partially shielded a column of tinted windows. Iron bars crisscrossed the facade. The effect was like viewing cracked eggshells in a cage. The lower floor was windowless, a sheer slab of concrete interrupted only by a pair of metal doors and a security code panel. Nayir had tried the doors already, spoken to an elderly guard, and been directed to a stairway at the side of the building.

Incongruously, the basement exterior was like an advertisement for the Old Jeddah Restoration Society. It ran the length of the building and contained some of the famous bay windows for which the street was named. The rawashin displayed teak latticework and shallow arched headings. Peeling paint curled from the stone walls beneath them. At the bottom of the stairs, a single wooden door was propped open, revealing folds of darkness within.

Loitering at the bottom of the stairway, Nayir gathered his wits by chewing a peppery miswak and spitting its bristles onto the ground. He told himself that he had to go inside—there was no way around it. The sun beat down, and he was sweating in a painful way, as if his skin were oozing nails. This visit wasn’t just a favor for the Shrawis, which was what he had been telling himself the whole way there—this was, he now realized, an invasion of privacy. Nouf’s corpse was inside, and it was his job to take her home.

He had spent all night in the desert wrestling with his failure. While his body sought much-needed sleep, his mind gnawed stubbornly on the myriad decisions he could have made, commands he could have issued, instincts he could have followed that might have saved her life. He’d finally fallen asleep around 5 A.M., only to wake abruptly an hour later to find that his frustration had dissolved into pity and guilt. There was nothing he could do for Nouf now, but however unlikely it was that he could still assist her family, he felt compelled to try.

He’d spent his morning prayers meditating. The Shrawis were too modest, too private to appreciate a display of condolence. It had to be something useful and quiet. As he packed up his equipment, loaded his Jeep, and drove back into the city, he rummaged his thoughts for the perfect gesture, but the exhaustion of the past weeks was taking its toll. It was only when Jeddah came into view that his energy began to return, and with it a tentative idea. Nouf’s body might still be at the coroner’s. The Shrawi sons would have just returned from the desert themselves; they would be distraught and exhausted. They would probably send servants to pick up the body, or perhaps someone from the mosque. How degrading to think of the parade of strangers’ hands and eyes that had already swept over her corpse. Would the family not prefer to have someone close to them handle Nouf’s final trip home?

From the Jeep he phoned Othman and fumbled through the question: Would you need—would it be all right—I thought I might help, if she’s still at the coroner’s . . . ?

Thank you so much, Othman said quietly. It would be an enormous help.

The relief in his voice prompted Nayir to say, Just tell me what to do.

Now staring at the bay window’s intricate latticework, his body weary but his mind perversely growing sharper as the minutes ticked by, Nayir confronted the less pleasant reasons he’d come. Morbid curiosity. The need for a sense of closure. A desire to prove himself capable of something. It was the selfishness of this last reason that weighed on him most.

The family is waiting.

Flicking his miswak in the gutter, he marshaled himself and entered the building only to find another set of stairs. He descended these with both hands pressed firmly to the wall. After the nuclear white of the day, the darkness was sudden and total.

Once his eyes adjusted, he saw a security guard reading at his desk. The sight of the plain brown uniform and the surly face above it unsettled him. This was the building’s real security. Slicing and prodding a dead human body was forbidden by law, and while the government quietly sanctioned autopsies, there would always be vigilantes hunting for un-Muslim behavior.

Seeing Nayir, the guard narrowed his eyes. Nayir approached the desk and looked behind the guard, down a single long hallway that was dimly lit with fluorescent lights. I’m here to pick up a body. He fished in his pocket for the official release form he’d received from one of the Shrawi servants that afternoon. He handed it to the guard.

The guard studied the paper carefully, folded it, and handed it back. She’s down the hall, he said.

Which . . . ?

The man raised an eyebrow and pointed behind him to the only corridor in view. Nayir nodded. He tried to relax. He wiped the sweat from his neck and approached a pair of swing doors at the end of the hall. When he opened them, the smell hit him like a slap: ammonia, death, and blood, and something else just as foul. Forcing a swallow, he thought he could taste sulfur from the brimstone that the Bedouin sometimes used to purify departing souls. No, he thought, that’s my imagination. The room was sterile and bright. In the center stood a medical examiner bent over a body on the table. He was a lanky man with a cap of gray hair a shade darker than his lab coat. He looked up. "Salaam aleikum."

"W’aleikum as-salaam." Nayir felt dizzy and tried not to look at the body. He turned his gaze to the cabinets, packed with textbooks, gauze, empty glass jars.

Can I help you? the examiner asked.

I understand you have the girl who—

Are you family?

No, I’m not. No. Irrationally, Nayir felt like a pervert. He had the urge to explain that he was here out of duty, not desire. The air was hot and close; he could smell the corpse and it was making him sick. The edges of his vision flickered with darkness. He took a deep breath and turned to see a blood-smeared smock hanging on the wall.

Then you’re not allowed in here, the examiner said.

I have permission to see the body. I have to see—I mean, I have to pick it up. He ran a hand down his face. I’m here to pick up the body.

The examiner dropped his scalpel in a silver tray and regarded Nayir with frustration. We’re not done with it. You’re just going to have to wait.

Nayir was vaguely relieved. Before I take her, I’d like to make sure that it’s really her.

It’s her. The examiner, seeing Nayir’s reluctance, came around the table. Let me see your papers. Nouf Ash-Shrawi, right? He took the papers from Nayir and read them carefully. Yes, she’s the one. He motioned to the table behind him.

Nayir hesitated, uncomfortable with his next remark. I’d like to see her face.

The examiner stared at him, and Nayir realized that he’d crossed a line, that the examiner now thought he was a pervert even if he did have the right papers.

Only because it’s a matter of principle, Nayir said.

She’s already been identified.

Nayir read the man’s nametag: Abdullah Maamoon, Medical Examiner. He was just about to speak again when the door opened behind them and a woman entered the room. There would of course be female examiners to handle the female corpses, but seeing one in the flesh was a shock. She wore a white lab coat and a hijab, a black scarf, on her hair. Because her face was exposed, he averted his gaze, blushing as he did so. Uncertain where to rest his eyes, he let them fall on the plastic ID tag that hung around her neck: Katya Hijazi, Laboratory Technician. He was surprised to see her first name on the tag—it should have been as private as her hair or the shape of her body—and it made her seem defiant.

Worried that the older man might think he was staring at her breasts, Nayir dropped his gaze to the floor, catching sight of two shapely feet ensconced in bright blue sandals. He blushed again and turned away from her, trying not to turn completely but just enough to indicate that he wouldn’t look at her.

The woman’s shoulders drooped slightly, which seemed to indicate that she’d noticed Nayir’s discomfort and was disappointed by it. Reaching into her pocket, she took out a burqa, draped it over her face, and fastened the Velcro at the back of her head. Pleased by the action but still uncomfortable with her presence in the room, Nayir watched her from the periphery of his vision. Once the burqa was on and it was all right to glance at her, he dared a peek, but a slit in the burqa showed her eyes, and she looked right at him. He quickly glanced away, disturbed by her forwardness.

"Salaam aleikum, Dr. Maamoon, she said, approaching the examiner. Her voice was challenging. You haven’t been giving Mr. Sharqi a hard time, have you?"

Nayir hoped his confusion didn’t show. How did she know his name? And what sort of woman wielded a strange man’s name so confidently? The guard must have told her. But why?

The examiner was piqued by her forwardness and grumbled unintelligibly. She must be a new employee, not yet used to dealing with the more traditional old man.

Oh, good, the woman said, because he’s here to pick up the body.

Maamoon shot Nayir a suspicious look. So he said.

Miss Hijazi turned to Nayir. She was standing right next to him, a little closer than was appropriate, he thought. How are you going to transport her? she asked.

He hesitated, unwilling to speak directly to her. He glanced down and caught a glimpse of her hand. She was wearing a wedding band, or perhaps an engagement ring; he couldn’t tell. The fact that she had a husband made her presence here slightly easier to take—but only slightly.

Nayir spoke to the examiner. I have a Jeep parked outside, but I’d like to identify the body before I leave with it.

All right, Miss Hijazi answered. Nayir thought it was brazen of her to talk when she was not being spoken to, but her professional manner surprised him. Women, even the forward ones, usually regarded him as an animal of some sort—his tall and hulking frame, his deep, rough voice. But this one, although she stepped carefully around him, seemed at ease. We’ve already identified her, you know.

Nayir’s stomach flopped. She seemed determined to start a conversation with him, but he kept his eyes on Maamoon, wishing the old man would talk to him. Instead he stood there looking suspicious. I want to see the body myself, Nayir said, thinking, At this point, all I really want to do is leave.

She’s on the table now. You can have a look.

Miss Hijazi led him to the metal table where Nouf’s body lay and pulled the sheet from her face. When Nayir looked down, he felt another wave of dizziness but remembered to breathe. At first he didn’t see any resemblance to Nouf, but as he studied the contours of her face, he began to see it—the small, careful mouth, the high Shrawi cheekbones.

I think it’s her. He coughed as the smell rose up and engulfed him. Poor girl. Her face was half charred from the sun, and the other half was a ghastly gray. She must have been lying on her side for days; the burns were extreme. The gray side, however, was spattered with mud. Thank you, he said, stepping back.

Miss Hijazi inspected Nouf’s head. Nayir noticed something sticky in her hair just above the left ear. He turned to Maamoon and asked, Is that blood?

Maamoon simply shrugged while Miss Hijazi continued inspecting the wound. Yes, she answered finally. There’s bruising. It looks like someone hit her pretty hard. And there’s something else . . . With tweezers, she plucked a tiny sliver from the wound and held it up. Looks like a wood chip.

Nayir felt a strange agitation. He kept his eyes on the examiner. Was that wound the cause of death?

No, Maamoon said. She drowned.

A silence ensued, but Maamoon, his eyes flashing with professional delight, pointed to an x-ray on the wall that showed Nouf’s chest. Nayir studied the x-ray, not sure what to make of it. She drowned?

That’s what I said. A classic case. Foam in the mouth. Her lungs and stomach were filled with water.

The simplicity of drowning cracked open a complexity of prospects. At least, when a woman drowns in the largest sand desert in the world, there ought to be an equally remarkable explanation. If she drowned, Nayir said, then how do you explain the wound on her head?

The examiner bristled. She must have bumped it.

While she was drowning?

"Yes, while she was drowning."

During this exchange Miss Hijazi continued to probe Nouf’s scalp. Nayir noticed that her hands were unsteady. He dared a look at her eyes and saw a frown. If this wound is from the drowning, she said finally, then there must be other wounds like it on her body.

Nayir marveled at her audacity and wondered how the examiner could put

Reviews for Finding Nouf

[cygnet81 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Such an interesting picture of the life of women in Saudi Arabia.

[olivermagnus · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Nayir ash-Sharqi is a Palestinian born and raised in Saudi Arabia. He's also a desert guide, often hired by the wealthy Shrawi family. They've asked him to help them track down the whereabouts of their 16-year-old daughter, Nouf, who went missing just three days before her wedding. He discovers her body in the desert, but so many things don't seem to make sense. When Nayir goes to the coroner to bring her home to her family, he is shocked to see the damage done to her corpse. He decides to continue his investigation into the cause of her death.

One of the very few women allowed to work in the laboratory, technician, Katya Hijazi, suspects murder. Katya is connected to the case through her engagement to Nouf's older brother Othman, and she teams with Nayir to look into Nouf's death. Initially, Nayir is horrified by Katya's boldness, but he gradually comes to respect her intelligence and skill. As they continue their investigation, both Nayir and Katya must confront deeply held beliefs as they uncover long buried family secrets.

What a fascinating book. It checks all the boxes of a typical forensic crime procedural but the Saudi Arabian setting and culture make it even better. I thought the author did a fantastic job of using a male protagonist but giving the reader a look into female characters who live and attempt to work in a society bound by strict Muslim law. I highly recommend this book to any mystery fan or anyone who wants an intriguing eye into a society that is still a mystery to most of us. I can't wait to read the next book in the series, City of Veils.

[cathyskye · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I read the second of Zoë Ferraris's Saudi mysteries, City of Veils, first and was completely transported. So much so that I felt the need to get my hands on this-- the first-- book. I'm glad I did. In three novels (Kingdom of Strangers is the third), Ferraris has opened the door and shed light on a landscape, a people, and a culture that are almost totally alien to Westerners. She does it with firsthand knowledge, psychological insight, tightly woven plots, and a writing style that can be downright poetic.Finding Nouf is a wonderful introduction to life in a Muslim country-- from dealing with the climate to many of its customs. One of the things I appreciated most from reading this book is being shown how the practice of Islam differs from country to country.The two main characters-- Katya Hijazi and Nayir al-Sharqi-- are interesting in and of themselves, but also as examples of traditional and non-traditional views. Nayir is very traditional in his beliefs, so when he first begins working with the non-traditional unmarried Katya, he spends most of his time being shocked and not knowing where to look. It's refreshing to watch him slowly-- very slowly-- begin to relax a bit around her. It's unusual for women to work in Saudi Arabia, and there are all sorts of restrictions on what types of jobs women may have and where they're able to work. Watching Katya navigate all these rules and regulations shows us how strong she is. How determined she is to succeed. She's just the sort of person who should be the coroner, but in order for that to happen, Katya is going to have to leave the country of her birth. Any Western woman who reads this book will have an eye-opening experience. She's undoubtedly going to feel incredulous and frustrated as well, especially when Katya's life is put in contrast to the lives of the extremely wealthy women of Nouf's family. (A large parking lot paved in marble? And that's before you enter the house!)I was blindsided by the identity of Nouf's killer, and that doesn't happen often. I loved this book, and recommend it highly. I also have good news: Ferraris is a writer who starts with a winner and just keeps improving. As much as I love Finding Nouf, City of Veils is even better. My advice? Read all three of Zoë Ferraris's excellent Saudi mysteries!

[devilish2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Gorgeously evocative novel - a gentle, sensitive portrayal of Islam and its meaning to individuals while enquiries are made to find who killed Nouf and why.

[dianaleez · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Insights into life in Saudi Arabia are more interesting than the mystery elements. But I'm the first to admit that this time I guess wrong on who-done-it. Characters and setting are intriguing. And my family is probably tired by now of hearing, "Did you know that in Saudi Arabia.....?"

[4fish_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

As the book opens, Nayir, a desert guide, is searching the desert for his friend's 16-year-old sister Nouf. By the end of the chapter, we know that Nouf is dead. But "finding" her and understanding what happened to her takes a lot more detective work. In a culture where men and women who aren't related can't talk to each other without risking arrest and capital punishment, solving this mystery takes creativity. The author has lived in Saudi Arabia and her husband's family has a similar background to the book's protagonist. I wasn't sure I was going to like this book, as I'm not much of a mystery fan. It wasn't the mystery that kept me reading so much as the glimpse of a culture so alien to our own.

[downtownlibrarian · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Well written detective novel with sensitive observations of life in Saudi Arabia.

[chinquapin_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A sixteen year old girl from a wealthy family in Saudi Arabia goes missing in the desert and Nayir ash-Sharqui, a Palestinian desert guide and close friend of the family, is asked to try and find her. All that is found is her dead body, which points to murder. Nayir then begins to investigate why Nouf had run away and, in the process, uncovers many hidden secrets and a troubled family. An interesting part of this story was the depiction and seeming discussion about the role of women and their extreme segregation in Saudi Arabia. Nayir is a religious conservative who believes that the laws for wearing the burqa protect women, but he is also a thoughtful, kind man and is conflicted when he meets Katya who is working in the criminal investigation laboratory who feels very stifled by these laws. He is also aware of how these laws make it nearly impossible for a man like himself with no family ties in Saudi Arabia to meet a respectable young lady and marry. As a reader, the view into this very closed Islamic society was very intriguing to me, and I found myself drawn into the mystery and sympathetic towards the main characters. Reading this book was a highly rewarding experience, and it is one whose story and characters will stay with me for a long time.

[dubaireader · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fascinating.This was a fascinating read, particularly from the point of view of the interactions between Saudi Arabian men and women. Although based around a murder within the community, the who-done-it side of the narrative seemed secondary to the insights into such a closed society.Nayir is a desert guide, often mistaken as a Bedouin. He is asked by the family of the victim to escort a private detective into the area of the desert where the body of 16yr old Nouf was found.Katya, the fianceé of the victim's brother, is also working in the District Examiner's Office and she brings her professional expertise into solving the murder.Working together proves especially problematic for Nayir, as he is extremely devout and finds any contact with women, particularly unveiled, supremely uncomfortable. It is a wonder that anything is solved at all, when both parties withold information due to embarassment and the family is rich enough to persuade the District Govenor's Office that it was all an accident.A most unusual crime mystery that I would highly recommend. I have already borrowed the second book in the series (City of Veils) from the library and can't wait to get stuck in.

[castiron_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An interesting mystery, a fascinating look at a culture I'm unfamiliar with, and great characters. Nayir is complex, deeply moral, and honorable; Katya is intelligent and resourceful, working within society's limitations towards a full life. I definitely want to spend more time with these characters.

[dinci-3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

like this book. Good mystery which offers an intimate view inside a closed society and shows the conflict between the traditional and the modern in Saudi Arabian culture.

[brenzi_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A murder takes place in this book but that’s not the main theme, as far as I can see. That title belongs to the subjugation of women in Saudi Arabia which, as I got further and further into the narrative, managed to make me fairly agitated (to say nothing of enlightened). Not surprisingly, the author, American Zoe Ferraris, spent only nine months in the country, getting to know her husband’s family, who had never welcomed an American into their home (and lives) before. After nine months she left the country and is now divorced. I honestly don’t see how any woman not raised in Saudi Arabia could ever adjust to the stringent conditions under which women there exist. And unfortunately for these women, they are only too aware of the differences between their lives and those of women living in the West because of illegal (but easily obtainable) DVDs representing ways of life they end up longing for. So I tried to view this book as a glimpse at a culture that I am totally unfamiliar with and a vehicle for learning.Nouf ash-Shawri is the sixteen year old daughter in a wealthy Saudi family and it appears that she has run away. After searching the desert area near her home, desert guide Nayir finds that her body has been found and she apparently died, in the desert, by drowning in a wadi filled with rainwater. Why would a girl from the privileged class run away and how did she drown? These are among the many questions that kind, gentle and deeply religious, Nayir feels compelled to find the answers to, even after her family accepts the idea of accidental drowning. To do so he must accept the help of a working woman audacious enough to bare her face in public, coroner’s lab worker Katya Hijazi. Nayir finds himself at a crossroads, highly desirous of female companionship, yet highly cautious in observing his religious beliefs which include never looking directly into a woman’s eyes or being seen in public with a woman who is not his wife, sister or daughter. The religious police are always on the lookout for offenders. A clash of cultures becomes obvious when an American is detected as one of a number of suspects, and Nayir visits his apartment in an American compound:”Inside the compound, the environment changed. These were mostly Saudi-style homes, bright stucco buildings with ornate shutters and flat roofs, but the gardens were strangely American, bursting with flowers he didn’t recognize. Americans lived here, as well as other Western workers who signed up for two, maybe three years of work in Saudi. Most of them came because the work was lucrative and completely tax-free; some companies even paid for their employees to fly back to America once or twice a year. There was a strong need for imported labor---a good number of Saudis were wealthy enough enough not to work, and, Nayir thought, they believed work was beneath them---but despite the necessity for American workers, he felt a twinge of resentment that they should come here and build their own little worlds, their own private compounds where they lived as if they were still in America.” (Page 136)As far as a mystery goes, this one is fairly typical in its construction and Ferraris does a good job of building suspense, but I was more impressed with her depiction of a culture with which I was unfamiliar. I think for this reason, it was difficult for her to construct complex characters. They seemed fairly one dimensional to me. But I was impressed by Nayir’s ability to grow and change in his way of adapting to a more independent female like Katya. This is the first in a series. I’m not sure whether I’ll continue but I did appreciate this one.

[janeajones · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Mysteries generally appeal to me because of their locales and cultures. Finding Nouf, set in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, opens up a world with which I have practically no familiarity and which I shall probably never visit. Zoe Ferraris is an American, but according to the book cover, she was married to a Saudi and moved to Saudi Arabia to become a part of an extended Saudi-Bedouin-Palestinian family (she now lives in the US).The plot involves the disappearance of Nouf Shrawi, the sixteen year old daughter of a wealthy family -- with a truck and a camel. A desert guide, the pious Nayir ash-Shariq, is hired to find out what happened to her. When she is found drowned in the desert, the body is turned over to the coroner, and a lab assistant in the women's division, Katya Hijazi, discovers information crucial to Nayir's investigation.Ferraris guides us through the labyrinths of modern Saudi life -- bounded and veiled in tradition and religion -- and the elaborate gender struggles it entails. Her descriptions of the desert, the dusty streets of Jeddah clogged with traffic, and the enclosed quarters of the Shawri women are highly evocative. This is the first in a series, and I've already ordered the second.

[schatje_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a mystery set in contemporary Saudi Arabia. Nayir ash-Sharqi, a desert guide, is asked by his friend, Othman Shrawi, to find his sixteen-year-old sister, Nouf. After her body is discovered, Nayir sets out to find out how she died; he is assisted in his investigation by Katya Hijazi, a forensic technician who also happens to be Othman’s fiancée.The mystery is satisfactory, although the identity of one person guilty of a crime is very obvious early on because the implication of this person solves a relationship problem for Nayir and Katya. What is most interesting about the book is its glimpse into Saudi Arabia’s restrictive Muslim culture. Various aspects of Saudi culture are interwoven into the narrative: the importance of hospitality, attitudes towards Americans and immigrants, segregation of men and women, gender roles.For Nayir and Katya to work together, they must resort to deception and subterfuge which make Nayir uncomfortable. As a traditional conservative Muslim, he has rather rigid ideas about female modesty and proper behaviour. His interaction with Katya forces him to become more flexible as she provides commentary on the realities of life for women. Nayir argues that “’All the prescriptions for modesty and wearing the veil, for decent behavior and abstinence before marriage’” are intended to protect women, but Katya counters that “’those same prescriptions can sometimes cause the degradation people fear the most’” (219).In many ways, the main conflict is between tradition and desire. Nayir wants to marry, yet his religious beliefs restrict his contact with single women. Katya would like to be a wife and mother, but she also wants a career, so she seeks “’a husband who respects [her] work’” (217). It also becomes clear that Nouf also wanted the freedom to make choices: “’Yes, options . . . I think that’s what Nouf wanted’” (218). I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy mysteries in an exotic locale which is gradually made familiar.

[ethel55_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Nouf is found in the first few pages of the novel, but that isn't really the point. There are many ways in which Nouf's family "find" her in this novel and the mysterious life she wanted to lead. Nayir, former Palestinian turned Saudi desert guide, is hired by Nouf's brother Othman to look into her death. Nayir must face his culture's rules about women, as he tries to investigate without upsetting cultural mores and teaming up with Othman's rather forward-thinking intended, Katya, who works at the coroner's office.

[smiley_13 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

So-so mystery but excellent feel for characters and place. The characters Ferraris draws are life-like and behave with humanity. Her descriptions and details of Saudi and the desert ring true. I hope she writes more, maybe not confined by they mystery genre. If she does write another mystery with this duo, much like Dorothy L. Sayers, I will read it.

[fordbarbara · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A young girl is dead and a desert guide trys to find out why when her family seems oddly disinterested. The book investigates the layers of a society that is so stifled by religious traditions and rules, that neither men or women are free to express their feelings or even acknowledge them. Instead, everyone is squeezed into a tiny box of their own, with the walls of tradition, religion, religious police, informers, family and fear boxing them in. Small rays of hope are expressed through a woman who works, yet would like to marry and have children - options she says, is what she wants. A clear picture of a country kept in the dark ages by patriarchal, and deadly, control.

[fernandame_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

E-book - WOW - I love this book!! The mystery part of it was really great but I enjoyed delving into a culture that I know very little about.

[camelliacorner · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book is called :The night of the Mi'raj", must be the title for Australian audiences. Learnt much about Saudi Arabian culture and the inequality of women that exits in this country. A story that got better as you read into it

[bsquaredinoz · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a difficult book to review because I had mixed reactions to different aspects of it. As pure storytelling I have one response but this is underpinned by a some doubts about the authenticity of the setting Ferraris has depicted and as these doubts, which might be unfounded, grew I think they affected my enjoyment of the story itself. As always though these are one person’s thoughts and if you don’t like them there are plenty of other opinions to be had.

When 16-year old Nouf ash-Shrawi disappears from the home of her wealthy Saudi Arabian family her brother Othman asks his friend, Palestinian born Nayir ash-Sharqi, to look for her. Nayir, often mistaken for a Bedouin, is a desert guide and is only too willing to assist his friend. Unfortunately though Nouf is found dead in a desert Wadi and the autopsy reveals she has drowned. What remains to uncover then is whether she ran away or was kidnapped. Nayir takes on the role of the family’s investigator but when Othman’s fiancée Katya Hijazi, a lab technician who assisted with the autopsy, also becomes involved in the investigation Nayir struggles because, being a conservative Muslim, he is not allowed to talk to a single woman.

From a pure storytelling standpoint this is an entertaining, if somewhat slow-moving novel, though probably not one for die hard crime fiction fans as it’s really not much of a mystery. However I think Ferraris’ intent is to paint a picture of the exotic location and society and the plot device of solving a possible murder was simply the most convenient way to achieve that end. It is hard to imagine for example too many circumstances other than the unexpected death of his friend’s young sister that would have prompted someone as conservative as Nayir to interact with a single woman in the way he ultimately interacts with Katya.

Nayir, Katya, Othman and even Nouf to the extent we learn about her after her death are thoughtfully depicted character studies. The competing desire to conform to their society’s strict rules and their frustration at having to do so is shown from both a female and male perspective which is unusual and worth exploring. The kind of claustrophobia that some people, women in particular, must feel in these surroundings especially when they have had some exposure to different cultures including less strict Muslim ones, was very well shown and the highlight of the novel for me. In particular the sad resolution to the mystery was very fitting in that it demonstrated what people will do when there are such limited opportunities for them to change their circumstances.

But on to my qualms about this book. Let me first state I am no expert on either Saudi Arabia or Islamic life but as I read the book I kept picking up on little details that didn’t sound right to me from my limited knowledge of the country and culture. Not only did this make me wonder what else might I be missing, but I couldn’t help but ponder if the book was doing less ‘lifting the veil on a culture we know little about’ and more reflecting back some entrenched stereotypes about that culture that westerners are largely comfortable with. If this is what’s happening I have no idea how much is to do with the author’s mistakes and how much might be due to publishers asking for changes that fit in better with the target audience’s existing knowledge but either way I didn’t fully buy into the story because of my perception of inaccuracy about some fairly fundamental details.

At one point for example there is mention made of a pious young girl who came to visit the family for a short time but has stayed for 2 years and repeated the Haj (or Hajj)12 times. The Haj is an annual event that happens during specific dates on the Islamic calendar and I think that even if the young girl had visited Mecca at other times (unlikely in itself) it would be called an Umrah. Another language discrepancy that I picked up was that the women were referred to as wearing burqas whereas the face covering in Saudi Arabia is of a different kind and is known as a nikab. Even more troubling though than these kinds of inaccuracies were things that I felt served no purpose other than to perpetuate some good old-fashioned stereotypes. The one that immediately springs to mind is when Nayir is pondering whether two particular men might be gay which serves no purpose whatsoever other than an opportunity for readers to be told what horrible things happen to gay people in Saudi Arabia.

I’m not for one moment suggesting that everything in the book is wrong or that I don’t have severe misgivings about the way women can be treated when the strictest interpretation of Islamic law is applied. I’m just not entirely convinced that this book, regardless of how good the story might be, adds much to the western understanding of the culture it is depicting.

[lillian3_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An intriguing look into the complex relationships between men and women in Saudi Arabia. Solving the mystery behind the death of a teenage girl in the desert hooked me as a reader, but watching the bond develop between Nayir and Katya (he's a conservative, Palestinian desert guide/sleuth; she has a PHD and works in the womens' section of the state examiner's office) kept me up all night.

[jgoitein_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Finding Nouf is an Alex Award winning title for 2009. What appeal does this book written for adults hold for a young adult reader? First, it is a mystery, a who done it, that sends students on a quest to find the killer. Second, the victim, Nouf, is a privileged sixteen year old Saudi girl from a wealthy Bedouin family who was about to be married. Her personality and secret desires are unraveled as the clues about her death are revealed. Her longing for love, education and independence are universal qualities young girls can identify with. Third, it takes place in an exotic locale where the sands shift and camels roam to the seaside marinas to hear jet skis hum in the distance. Nouf is first believed to be kidnapped, then found dead in the desert. Her death is called an accidentenial drowning by the coroner's office. No ramson note was sent to the family. Why does she have a head injury? Why is she buried so she is facing away from Mecca? I s this a sign she was expecting a child at the time of her death? Who would want to harm her?All these questions are left to Nayir, a Palestinian desert guide, and Katya, a lab technician at the coroner's office, to gather and piece together evidence and theorize a motive for Nouf''s death. It is with the two characters, Nayir and Katya, that first time author Zoe Ferraris developes unique multidimensional protagonists. It is through their eyes and thougths that the reader gets an exacting look at the culture of the wealthy and religious of Saudi Arabia of today. It helps that the American Ferrais was married to a Bedouni from a large extended family and lived for a while in Saudi Arabia. She conveys with great detail the desert guide Nayir, a religious Muslum, who comes to terms with his loneliness and his thoughts, often unpure, of women and their role in modern Saudi society, and how he can best interact with them without bringing out the religious police. Katya is that modern young Saudi woman, who still wears her burqa when necessary, but prefers to go without it. She is the voice of educated women who are defining a new place for women in a very patriachical society. As the fiance of Nouf's brother Oshman, she is asked by him to work with Nayir to test DNA samples found at the crime scene. As a mystery genre, much attention is paid to going over the clues over and over again. Ferrais seems to use this as a device to end a chapter at what seems like a dead end, but then pick up new clues and meaning in a following chapter. It works well as the reader is entralled in this strange world of men and women, even of the same family , leading very different lives in a society few Westerns have privy to.

[writestuff_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Nayir ash-Sharqi, a desert guide, is hired by the Shrawi family to locate a family member who has disappeared. Nouf, only sixteen years old and planning her wedding, appears to have run away into the desert. But when her body is found in a wadi and the coroner reveals her cause of death as drowning, disturbing questions arise. Nayir joins forces with Katya Hijazi, a lab worker at the coroner’s office who is like no woman he has ever met. Together they begin to piece together Nouf’s last days and hours to uncover the mystery surrounding her death.Finding Nouf is at its heart a mystery, but it is also more than this. Set in modern Saudi Arabia, the novel explores the role of women in a gender-segregated society which clings to its history while at the same time must address the changing views of the women it seeks to control and protect. Nayir is a devote man who prays regularly and wishes to follow the laws of Allah; but he is also a bachelor who fantasizes of one day finding a woman with whom he can share his life.Nayir’s conflicted feelings provide the tension in the book. At first I disliked Nayir, finding him rigidly pious and chauvinistic. Ferraris does a remarkable job turning Nayir from a largely distasteful character to one the reader begins to respect. It is Nayir’s growth as a man (who comes to see women as human beings with dreams, desires and individual strengths) which elevates the novel to more than a simple whodunnit.Katya represents the modern Saudi woman – a woman who has her own job and dares to speak to men not related to her. It is through her that the reader begins to gain a deeper understanding of Nouf – a teenager from a wealthy family who yearns for freedom.Zoe Ferraris once lived in Saudi Arabia during the time following the first Gulf War. At that time, she was married to a Saudi-Palestinian Bedouin and was exposed to a culture largely closed to Americans. Knowing this about the author gave me respect for the perspective of this novel which although seen mostly through the eyes of the lead male character, exposes the dreams and desires of women living in a paternalistic society.Ferraris’ writing is clean and riveting. The core mystery (what actually happened to Nouf) has many twists and turns which kept me guessing right to the end. This is a novel I would classify as “literary mystery” as its focus is as much on its main characters (and their growth) as on the mystery which propels the story.Readers who enjoy a good mystery, as well as literary fiction, will enjoy this look inside the Saudi culture.Recommended.

[labibliophille · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I chose this first novel by Zoe Ferraris as part of the Book Awards Reading Challenge. It is a winner of the Alex Award, which is given by the American Library Association to books that are written for adults but have some special appeal to young adults.Finding Nouf is set in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It is an unusual detective story. A 16 year old woman from a wealthy family disappears, and her body is found in the desert. Did she run away, or was she abducted? There was no ransom demand, and the official cause of death was drowning. Nouf was found in a wadi by Bedouins after an infrequent desert rainstorm. But why would Nouf run away? She was planning her upcoming wedding, and seemed happy.Nouf’s brother, Othman, contacts his old friend and desert guide, Nayir ash-Sharqi, to find Nouf. After the body is found, Nayir begins to investigate Nouf’s disappearance and death with the help of Katya, Othman’s fiancee who, conveniently, works for the medical examiner.This quest for the truth is complicated by the simple facts of life in Saudi society. How could a young woman disappear, when women are not allowed to appear unescorted in public? This is especially true for young women in wealthy families, who have full-time escorts/drivers. How could Nouf have taken a family’s truck, when women are forbidden by law to drive? And how can Katya and Nayir work together on this case, when they are not allowed to be seen together?Finding Nouf gives us a glimpse of Saudi life, and how the structure of society and the laws of the land keep women undereducated, housebound and, often, miserable. This book was very well written. It is a good mystery, with plenty of red herrings. It will take you a while to figure out who done it. I highly recommend this book.

[rfewell_3 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Pretty good mystery-ish story. I thought it would be a good companion to Crescent.

[suzannie1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

other peoples reviews say it all , this was a very differnet sort of book, i did like it but it showed how limiting life is in Saudi

[mrlzbth_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The setting is really what makes this mystery set in modern-day Saudi Arabia stand out--the cultural and religious restrictions placed upon the characters' behavior are fascinating to read about and really influence how the mystery is solved. The main characters Nayir and Katya are both extremely likable and have interesting life stories, and I'll definitely be picking up the later books in the series to see how their relationship matures over time. My only reservations about the book come from knowing that the author is an outsider writing about Saudi culture and wondering how accurate her portrayal is...

[robindawson · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Night of the Mi'raj is quite a gripping murder mystery, and the bonus is it paints quite a vivid picture of Muslim culture and the tensions between families and genders as the traditional ways are forced to change by modern/Western values. It reminded me of Sweetness in the Belly by Camilla Gibb - another excellent book about Muslim culture, although this one is set in Ethiopia. Having lived in these countries both authors are able to really bring the culture alive.

[smik_3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It is not often that crime fiction readers get the chance to get right inside the skin of another society, but this is what I feel Zoe Ferraris does for us in THE NIGHT OF THE MI'RAJ.My guess is that I already have some understanding from practical experience of how Islamic society works, but the novel showed me much greater depth.The characters of Nayir and Katya are so well drawn. Nayir is a Palestinian often mistaken for a Bedouin. He has been employed by the family in the past as a desert guide, and this time to find out the truth about Nouf's disappearance. So he is not a policeman, not even a detective. Katya on the other hand is well qualified in forensic medicine but is a woman, trying to be "modern" in an Islamic world. The picture of each of them trying to bide by convention, Nayir because he wants to, Katya because she must, is carefully drawn.I've included the author's note about the novel's title because in this case I think I actually concur with its renaming to FINDING NOUF. The title THE NIGHT OF THE MI'RAJ really has little meaning for the non-Islamic reader unless you are prepared to do some research, although it would obviously be charged with significance for the Islamic one. So I think the Islamic reader would explore the meaning of that title in a way that I never would.On the other side of the coin though I have noted what the publisher says about this being a literary novel and coupled that with what the author says about Nayir's journey. I think I understand that Ferraris didn't see herself as primarily writing crime fiction. The investigation into the death of Nouf is really just a back drop to Nayir and Katya showing what it is like to be Islamic in the modern world. From that point of view alone the novel, whatever its title, is fascinating.

[bblum_10 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

First novel about Katya a junior in the Jeddah coroner's office. Her reluctant partner in solving this crime of a murdered young women is Nayir, a desert tour guide who is very religious and is shy around women because a man should never look at a woman directly unless she has her burka in place. Good cultural mystery. Sequel is City of Veils.