The Cry of the Dove: A Novel

The Cry of the Dove: A Novel

“Exquisitely woven.”—Leila Aboulela Timely and lyrical, The Cry of the Dove is the story of one young woman and an evocative portrait of forbidden love and violated honor in a culture whose reverberations are felt profoundly in our world today. Salma has committed a crime punishable by death in her Bedouin tribe of Hima, Levant: she had sex out of wedlock and became pregnant. Despite the insult it would commit against her people, Salma has the child and suddenly finds herself a fugitive on the run from those seeking to restore their honor. Salma is rushed into protective custody where her newborn is ripped from her arms, and where she sits alone for years before being ushered to safety in England. Away from her Bedouin village, Salma is an asylum-seeker trying to melt into the crowd, under pressure to reassess her way of life. She learns English customs from her landlady and befriends a Pakistani girl who is also on the run, with whose help Salma finally forges a new identity. But just as things settle, the need to return for her lost daughter overwhelms her, and one fateful day, Salma risks everything to go back and find her. The third novel from this provocative Jordanian author boldly addresses her ongoing theme of the vulnerability of Arab women in male-dominated societies. Her protagonist is Salma, a member of a Bedouin tribe in Hima, the Levant, who at 16 becomes pregnant out of wedlock—considered by her tribe a crime punishable by death. Imprisoned for her own safety, she gives birth five months later; her daughter is spirited away, and Salma is imprisoned eight more years before being secretly released and sent to Southampton, England. There she works as a seamstress and barmaid, removes her veil and cautiously gains her independence. Faqir shifts her narrative abruptly between Salma's years in prison and her ongoing life, capturing the reader in a jarring juxtaposition of emotions. Salma dreams of someday going to Greece—"the nearest she could get to her home without being shot." When her daughter is 16, Salma can no longer resist trying to find her, and in so doing risks everything she has become. A remarkable and exquisitely written tale of a repressive, still active tradition. Donovan, Deborah "Fadia Faqir's first novel, Nisanit, was decades ahead of its time. Her captivating new novel deals with the timeless themes of unforgiveness, friendship, and travel. Exquisitely woven, laced with humor and social awareness, it hums with the futility of erasing the past." "This is a beautiful book, written in vivid, tender prose....Salma is an unforgettable character, fierce and loving, veering between self-hatred and a sense of her own strength, touching and funny. Now I have finished the book, I miss her."