Finding Nouf [Paperback]

Zoe Ferraris (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 6, 2009

Fast-paced and utterly transporting, Finding Nouf is a riveting literary mystery and an unprecedented window into the lives of men and women in Saudi Arabia.

 

When sixteen-year-old Nouf goes missing, her prominent family calls on Nayir al-Sharqi, a pious desert guide, to lead the search party. Ten days later, just as Nayir is about to give up in frustration, her body is discovered by anonymous desert travelers. But when the coroner’s office determines that Nouf died not of dehydration but from drowning, and her family seems suspiciously uninterested in getting at the truth, Nayir takes it upon himself to find out what really happened. He quickly realizes that if he wants to gain access to the hidden world of women, he will have to join forces with Katya Hijazi, a lab worker at the coroner’s office who is bold enough to bare her face and to work in public. Their partnership challenges Nayir and forces him to reconcile his desire for female companionship within the parameters imposed by his beliefs. 

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

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. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"What's remarkable about this debut is that its mystery takes place within a culture that is largely under wraps ... The thriller plot is well-placed. But it's the individual journeys of Nayir and Katya, who abide by society's strictures even as they are frustrated by them, that elevate Finding Nouf to a larger human drama."

(Entertainment Weekly )

"[Ferraris] weaves a richly detailed tapestry of the country's gender-segregated and pious Muslim culture."

(Washington Post )

"A finely tuned character study ... both particularly well-crafted and readily accessible for American readers. Just make sure you turn up the air-conditioning before sitting down to read."

(Christian Science Monitor )

"Ferraris writes with authority on how Saudi insiders and outsiders alike perceive the United States ... With equal authority, she stakes her own claim on the world map, opening Saudi Arabia up for mystery fans to reveal the true minds and hearts of its denizens."

(Sarah Weinman Los Angeles Times )

"In Finding Nouf, first-time novelist [Zoe Ferraris] gives us an imaginative and closely observed murder mystery set in the Saudi port town of Jeddah, a literary detective novel that balances the pleasures of plot with finely milled prose ... As a good detective novel should, Finding Nouf visits all the nooks and crannies of society ... Characters a lesser writer would skim over with a few generic adjectives come alive in Ferraris's hands and pull you into their world. But what truly sets this book apart from a detective novel is its prose."

(San Francisco Chronicle )

"The author's canny move using the tried-and-true murder mystery format allows her to sketch a trenchant portrait of Saudi society within an engaging yarn."

(Minneapolis Star Tribune )

"Finding Nouf, Zoe Ferraris's engrossing debut novel, yanks the veil off Saudi Arabian culture while unraveling a compelling murder mystery."

(The Oregonian )

"Reads like a breeze ... Ferraris offers a fascinating glimpse inside domestic Saudi Arabia. Even better, she has written a fascinating thriller, not only an academic treatment. Finding Nouf turns out to be a great beach read."

(Cleveland Plain Dealer )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books; 1ST edition (May 6, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0547237782
• ISBN-13: 978-0547237787
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (95 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #44,395 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

76 of 78 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Authenticity Shines Through January 3, 2009

By Gail Birch

Format:Hardcover

As a western woman and a former resident of Saudi Arabia, who speaks, reads and writes Arabic, I heartily recommend Finding Nouf. In addition to its well-structured plot and stunning prose, I want to point out some of the things I liked about it since I lived in the city where the story takes place.

Several reviewers have noted that the city of Jeddah comes through as a character in the book, and I wholeheartedly agree. More freewheeling and less restrictive than the capital Riyadh, Jeddah is a behemoth-sized eddy in the current of humanity where eccentrics turn up and stay for decades. Ferraris has captured its spirit. She gently leads the reader into the home of a wealthy family, a modest walk-up apartment in the old quarter, "Club Jed" - a foreigners' compound, as well as markets, offices and restaurants.

She also walks the reader through the puzzling issues one faces when trying to negotiate daily life in that social system with its curious customs. Then she shows how it's common and even acceptable to break some of the rules, if it's done discreetly and for good reason. The book's pacing, too, rings true to me. That's how things happen there.

When writing about men and women in Saudi Arabia, it's easy for western writers to slip into a patronizing or judgmental tone. Author Ferraris' never does this. She respects each character and the dilemmas they face.

I found her supporting characters particularly authentic, such as Miss Hijazi's father, her driver or `escort', and the optometrist. They all reflect the fascinating jumble of humanity in Jeddah.

Most important of all, Ferraris' portrayal of Katya Hijazi is splendid. She's a fine example of sensible and intelligent young Saudi women who don't sit back complaining about the social system. Instead, they get the job done within the system and in spite of it.

Mabruk (congratulations) to Ferraris. Please bring us more adventures of Nayir and Katya.

50 of 54 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Genuine Whodunit in the Desert! July 14, 2008

By Tom Weikert VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Finding Nouf is an intriguing, often suspenseful murder mystery set against the backdrop of simmering generational differences in modern Saudi Arabian society. The two central characters, Nayir al-Sharqi and Katya Hijazi, represent opposite ends of the great divide between the older Wahhabist Sunni establishment and an emerging, decidedly less observant younger generation of Saudis. Their unusual partnership, entered into in order to solve the mystery, exemplifies some of the struggles occurring between older, traditional Arab men and younger, more liberated women relative to acceptable roles for women in society.

Nayir, actually a Palestinian, is almost a caricature of the pious Muslim. Despite the bonds imposed on him by restrictive Saudi society, he longs for romance and struggles to reconcile his need for companionship with his strict adherence to Sharia law. Interestingly, he seems to chafe against those oppressive bonds, particularly as they restrict his ability to work with women. Even making eye contact with a woman causes him great angst. As a result of this personal torment and the baggage associated with a previously failed relationship, Nayir is in a sort of self-imposed romantic exile - living a Spartan, reclusive existence on a sailboat in Jeddah harbor.

Katya by contrast represents the newly empowered younger generation of Saudi women entirely comfortable in their hard-won independence. While complying with such government-enforced customs as remaining covered from head to toe in public, Katya reaches considerably higher professionally than many Saudi women - even earning a Ph.D. Employed as a medical examiner, she spreads her wings in investigating a murder that strikes uncomfortably close to home - the home, that is, of her fiancé. Nevertheless, she is both patient and determined in her quest to solve the crime and bring the perpetrator to justice.

Finding Nouf is loaded with twists and turns as Katya joins forces with Nayir in a sort of Sarah Sidle (CSI) meets Columbo. To this odd couple of an investigative team Katya brings knowledge of modern medical forensics while Nayir brings a dogged persistence combined with ample experience in good old-fashioned gumshoe detective work. Their diverging points of view give way to a productive, though at times uneasy, professional collaboration, and their disagreement regarding traditional male and female roles eases into a casual social relationship. Yes, they even go on a date - though Katya (predictably) brings her obligatory (and omnipresent) escort.

In Finding Nouf, Zoe Ferraris quite deftly captures the struggles occurring in modern Saudi society today while at the same time entertaining the reader with a genuine whodunit in the desert. What make this story so compelling is the author's depiction of the challenges of living in a closed, devoutly Muslim society and the effect those challenges can have on members of that society. Particularly for younger Saudis who are perhaps more susceptible to the lure of Western freedoms and, the Saudi government might argue, immoral behaviors characteristic of more permissive Western societies, the restrictiveness can be stifling and might even drive Saudi citizens to extremes of behavior.

Those individuals had better hope that Nayir and Katya are not investigating them. With these two sleuths on the case, their secrets will not remain secret for long!

Well worth the read!

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars "He imagined he saw her smile." August 25, 2008

By Sam Sattler TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

Despite the fact that the Middle East's role in world affairs increases as each decade passes, most Westerners have only a hazy comprehension of the region's culture and its people. And, ever since the chain of events that began with the September 2001 murders in New York City, what we do know is largely distorted by the media coverage that tends to deal almost exclusively with the terrorist segment of the Muslim world. That makes a novel like Finding Nouf, one that tells its story through the eyes of ordinary Saudi citizens trying to do the right thing despite the constraints of Saudi Arabian society, one of the more intriguing books of 2008.

When sixteen-year-old Nouf ash-Shrawi disappears from her wealthy family's isolated home, it is at first hoped that she has simply run away, perhaps suffering a bad case of nerves about her impending marriage. But an examination of her body after she has been found dead in the desert leaves little doubt that Nouf has been murdered and Nayir ash-Sharqi, a family friend and desert tracker who failed in his quest to find her before she died, feels both the guilt of that failure and a responsibility to determine exactly what happened to the girl.

Nayir finds a ready ally in Katya Hijazi, a lab technician who, like Nayir, is a friend of the Shrawi family (she is the fiancée of Nouf's adopted brother, Othman) and who has been asked to keep an eye on the official investigation into Nouf's death. But Katya is more than Nayir, a strictly religious Palestinian who has had only limited contact with Saudi women, knows how to handle. He finds her aggressiveness and willingness to display her face in all but the most public of venues to be shocking, especially when he learns that she is engaged to his good friend, Othman.

But even more shocking to Nayir is his realization that Katya's personality and behavior make her so attractive to him that he has to continually remind himself that she is to be married to his best friend. Part of the charm of Finding Nouf is watching the relationship between Nayir and Katya evolve during their investigation into one of mutual respect and affection, something that neither could have dreamed would ever happen.

Nayir and Katya link their individual skills in a way that slowly uncovers the facts surrounding Nouf's disappearance and death and, although what they find brings them dangerously close to disturbing truths about the Shrawi family, they remain determined to bring her killer to justice. Zoë Ferraris has created two very likable amateur Saudi sleuths who deserve a sequel, a hope that the book's ending seems, in fact, to encourage.

Finding Nouf is a fun mystery that, along the way, allows the reader a look at ordinary Saudi citizens and their relationship to each other and to the wealthier class. It explores both the formal and informal relationship between Saudi men and women and wonderfully illustrates the pressures felt by both sexes in a society willing to deal out harsh punishment to those not strictly observing the sexual mores of Islam and Saudi Arabian culture. Zoë Ferraris has written a first-class mystery but what makes it special is the unique setting in which she has placed it. This one is not to be missed.