The Story of Zahra: A Novel
by Hanan Al-Shaykh
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Book Summary Information
Author: Hanan Al-ShaykhEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1996-12-15
ISBN: 0385472064
Number of pages: 224
Publisher: Anchor
Book Reviews of The Story of Zahra: A Novel
Book Review: A Book That Fails to Live Up to Its Story
Summary: 2 Stars
The Story of Zahra is a book that could have been great but ends up being a mishmash of cliches and stereotypes. Not only does it not accurately portray Lebanon or its history, it also incorporates most of the Orientalist stereotypes about Arabs and Arab culture.
The character Zahra is not a sympathetic or even empathetic character and is reduced to being a very one-dimensional victim. She is a very pale shadow of the main characters of Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar and Siri Hustvedts's The Blindfold. Zahra's monolgues are badly written and reminscent of a teenagers diary ramblings. None of the other characters have any dimension, being flat caricatures.
The ending of the novel is quite shocking and powerful, had the author focused more on bringing the rest of the novel up to the level of the ending, it would have been much better.
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