Leda, a rich, retired, childless physician, is seduced into becoming a terrorist. Despite warnings from her husband, Leda joins her college Muslim friend to work in Palestinian refugee camps where she becomes radicalized by observing conditions under Israeli control. She is attracted to a young, handsome Egyptian physician, Talib, who invites her on a camel trip through the desert to Palmyra. He seduces her physically in a tent during a sand storm and asks her to be a heroine and help him ...

“I’m a simple village girl who has always obeyed the orders of my father and brothers. Since forever, I have learned to say yes to everything. Today I have decided to say no.”Nujood Ali's childhood came to an abrupt end in 2008 when her father arranged for her to be married to a man three times her age. With harrowing directness, Nujood tells of abuse at her husband's hands and of her daring escape. With the help of local advocates and the press, Nujood obtained he...

An investigative journalist uncovers a hidden custom in Afghanistan that will transform your understanding of what it means to grow up as a girl.“An astonishingly clear picture of this resourceful, if imperfect, solution to the problem of girlhood in a society where women have few rights and overwhelming restrictions.”—The Boston GlobeIn Afghanistan, a culture ruled almost entirely by men, the birth of a son is cause for celebratio...

Spellbinding and heartbreaking, the true story told by Kooshyar Karimi in Leila's Secret shows us everyday life for women in a country where it can be a crime to fall in love.Born in a slum to a Muslim father and a Jewish mother, Kooshyar Karimi has transformed himself into a successful doctor, an award-winning writer, and an adoring father. His could be a comfortable life but his conscience won't permit it: he is incapable of turning away the unmarried wo...

Soon to be a major motion picture starring Adrien Brody and Salma HayekIn the aftermath of the Iranian revolution, rare-gem dealer Isaac Amin is arrested, wrongly accused of being a spy. Terrified by his disappearance, his family must reconcile a new world of cruelty and chaos with the collapse of everything they have known. As Isaac navigates the terrors of prison, and his wife feverishly searches for him, his children struggle with the realization that th...

The Clothesline Swing is a journey through the troublesome aftermath of the Arab Spring. A former Syrian refugee himself, Ramadan unveils an enthralling tale of courage that weaves through the mountains of Syria, the valleys of Lebanon, the encircling seas of Turkey, the heat of Egypt and finally, the hope of a new home in Canada.Inspired by One Thousand and One Nights, The Clothesline Swing tells the epic story of two lovers anchored to the memory of a d...

A gay man in the Middle East wrestles with identity, love, and the upheaval of his country in this “vibrant, wrenching debut novel” (New Yorker).“. . .challenges the notion of what a ‘conventional’ love story should look like . . . As one of few queer novels with an Arab protagonist, it should not be overlooked.” —Lambda LiterarySet over the course of 24 four hours, Guapa follows Rasa, a gay man living in an unnam...

WINNER OF THE ENGLISH PEN AWARD Walid Dahman is going home. Returning to Gaza after nearly four decades in exile, he looks forward to embracing his mother and reconnecting with the people and place he once left behind. Boarding the flight from London, Walid's life intersects with that of Dana, an Israeli actress, on her way back to Tel Aviv. As the night sky hurtles past, what each confides and conceals will expose the chasm between them in the land they both call home. The Lady from Tel A...

Do Gazans ever have fun? Is the Strip beautiful? And do TV reports actually reflect ordinary life inside the world's largest 'open-air prison'? From beautiful beaches to sealed borders, from a secret New Year's Eve party to a lingerie market staffed entirely by men, award-winning writer Louisa Waugh paints an intimate picture of Gaza, revealing the pleasures and pains, hopes and frustrations of Gazans going about their daily lives. Meet Me in Gaza is an evocative portrait of a Mediterranea...

**A riveting, behind-the-scenes look of the Yazidi genocide and the terrorist threat it holds for the West, based on the investigation by Father Patrick Desbois, Costel Nastasie, and their team at Yahad–In Unum, as first shown on 60 Minutes.With testimony drawn from more than 200 interviews with Yazidi survivors—girls, women, boys, and men—recorded during 11 investigative trips to refugee camps in Iraqi Kurdistan."If you read only one book on this subject, it shoul...

“[A] rich read, part allegory, part a tale of retribution, part an exploration of honor, love, sex, marriage, war…an important and courageous book.”—Khaled Hosseini“An expansive work of literature” that portrays the oppressive nature of Afghan society toward women (New York Post)In Persian folklore, Syngue Sabour is the name of a magical black stone, a patience stone, which absorbs the plight of those who confide in it. It is belie...

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2020"An exemplary work of investigative journalism." —Parul Sehgal, The New York TimesThe murder of a Pakistani social media star exposes a culture divided between accelerating modernity and imposed traditional values—and the tragedy of those caught in the middle.In 2016, Pakistan’s first social media celebrity, Qandeel Baloch, was murdered in a suspected honor kill...