The Others

A rare, mesmerizing journey into the cloistered consciousness of a pious Shi'a university student in Qatif, Saudia Arabia, this controversial bestseller centers on a young woman whose lesbian affairs intensify her religious experience and compound her sense of self-abasement. A sheltered teenager living with her protective mother and studying Islamic jurisprudence at a women's college, the nameless narrator falls into a passionate physical relationship with another student named Dai, who is despotic and fiercely jealous. Given to flights of breathlessly manic description, the narrator depicts her secret shared moments with Dai in ecstatic bursts, all the while exploring Internet homosexual chatrooms and dabbling in flirtations with men and women. Erratically, she reveals details about herself, such as that a health issue has decreased her marriage prospects in a culture where early arranged marriage is the norm (her best friend essentially disappears when she gets engaged); as well, the narrator suffers from the losses of her father and brother. Al-Harez (a pseudonym) harnesses a great deal of a young woman's raw emotion, creating a startling and passionate work. (Apr.)