That Other Me

November 23, 2015
After her successful debut novel, The Sand Fish (2009), Emirati writer Gargash returns to Dubai to paint a complex portrait of a family, as its members struggle to maintain their ties with one another and to their traditions, while consequences of enormous wealth prove more threatening than modernity or Western influence. The story unfolds through three perspectives: Majed is an affluent patriarch with grown children, who drinks in private but whose extramarital affairs have been less well hidden. Dalal is his 20-something illegitimate daughter, who has no contact with her father and has been living in Cairo with her mother, hoping
to break into the music business as a singer. Their link is Mariam, Majed’s obedient niece, whom he’s putting through dental school (also in Cairo), and who is Dalal’s unlikely best friend. The novel struggles to pick up speed, particularly as a result
of its awkward prose. When, for instance, Dalal announces her upcoming appointment with someone in show business and Mariam seems confused, Dalal thinks, “She knows how much I’ve struggled these past 10 months to find a composer who would create a winning song for me.” As Mariam’s family in Dubai debates whether or not it’s too modern for a young girl to be studying abroad, the dialogue remains stilted and the conversation predictable.

December 1, 2015
There are secrets hidingbehind the respectable picture Majed Al-Naseemy presents to society. But his daughter and niece, living in the mid-1990s in Cairo, out of the immediate reach of the imperious Dubai businessman, threaten to topple the carefully constructed balance of his world. His daughter from a secret second marriage is determined to embark on a singing career, despite the shame this would cause, and his niece blames him for her father?s death. And a young man, who studies at the same school as Majed?s niece, forms relationships with both young women that have the potential to change their lives forever. The author of The Sand Fish (2009) presents a compelling tapestry of familial strife and stresses, told from each of the three characters? perspectives. Gargash layers on the restrictions of Arab society, masterfully capturing the constricting expectations each person faces. All are acutely aware of how they are presenting themselves and what others will think of them, and the way they behave in response is one of the most revealing aspects of their characters. A nuanced look at Arab life and society,(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)