Finding Nouf

The story of a 16-year-old young woman's inexplicable death by drowning in the middle of the desert just before her wedding is told from the point of view of a conscientious but conservative male friend of the family. Pete Bradbury's solemn, rich baritone evokes the striking landscape and culture of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The novel explores a young woman's acculturation into the hierarchy of a wealthy family as the question at the heart of the story--what really happened to Nouf--pulls the listener into this complicated murder mystery. Bradbury shifts between the male narrator and a supporting female character who aids in a secret investigation even after the family of the late young woman has accepted her death as an accident. M.R. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

January 7, 2008
A finely detailed literary mystery set in contemporary Saudi Arabia, Ferraris’s debut centers on Nouf ash-Shrawi, a 16-year-old girl who disappeared into the desert three days before her marriage and has been found dead, several weeks pregnant. Palestinian Nayir al-Sharqi who lives in Jeddah and works occasionally for the rich Shrawi family, is asked by them to investigate Nouf’s death discreetly. Nayir, a conservative Muslim and an outsider because of his nationality, his class and his large stature, is wary of traversing the wide gulf between Saudi men’s and women’s worlds, and is encouraged by his friend Othman, an adopted son of the Shrawis, to seek out the help of Katya Hijazi, Othman’s fiancée. Katya has a Ph.D. and is employed in the women’s section of the state medical examiner’s office. As Nayir and Katya’s investigation progresses, it becomes clear that at least one of the Shrawis has something to hide. Ferraris, who has lived in Saudi Arabia, gets deep inside Nayir’s and Katya’s very different perspectives, giving a fascinating glimpse into the workings and assumptions of Saudi society. As a mystery, it’s fairly well-turned, but it’s the characters and setting that sparkle.