Ḥanān Shaykh

Hanan Shaykh

An evocative reimagining of 19 tales from the classic story about young queen Shahrazad's efforts to save her life from a brutal husband focuses on female characters at the heart of each tale in a woven sequence that incorporates humor and sensuality.

A Retelling

One Thousand and One Nights

In this frank and fearless novel, acclaimed writer Hanan al-Shaykh follows the tumultuous lives and sometimes shocking choices of women successful in their careers but unlucky in love. On a sunny beach on the Italian Riviera, two thirtysomething women, Yvonne and Huda, relax by the sparkling sea. But despite the setting, as their vacation unfolds, their complicated pasts seep through to the idyllic present. Both women spent their childhoods in Lebanon--Yvonne raised in a Christian family, Huda in a Muslim one--and they now find themselves torn between the traditional worlds they were born into and the successful professional identities they've created. Three months later, when Huda (a theater director from Toronto) visits Yvonne (an advertising executive) in London, a chance encounter with a man at Speaker's Corner leads to profound repercussions for them both. As the novel continues, each woman will undertake her own quest for love and romance, revenge and fulfillment. Witty and wry, The Occasional Virgin is a poignant and perceptive tale for our time.

The occasional virgin

Hanan Al-Shaykh

In an unnamed Arab country, four women--Suha, who has a management degree; Tamr, who went on a hunger strike to learn to read; Suzanne, who pretends to commit suicide; and Nur, who sneaks out dressed as a man--try to survive in a society where the one thing they can never have is freedom

Women of Sand and Myrrh

In a novel that chronicles the modern Arab experience, four strangers, all with very different backgrounds, meet on a plane, each with their own motive for traveling to London.

Only in London

On a sunny beach on the Italian Riviera, two thirtysomething women, Yvonne and Huda, relax by the sparkling sea. But despite the setting, as their vacation unfolds, their complicated pasts seep through to the idyllic present. Both women spent their childhoods in Lebanon--Yvonne raised in a Christian family, Huda in a Muslim one--and they now find themselves torn between the traditional worlds they were born into and the successful professional identities they've created. Three months later, when Huda (a theater director from Toronto) visits Yvonne (an advertising executive) in London, a chance encounter with a man at Speaker's Corner leads to profound repercussions for them both, as each woman undertakes her own quest for romance, revenge, and fulfillment. Witty and wry, The Occasional Virgin is a poignant and perceptive story of the tumultuous lives and sometimes shocking choices of two women successful in their careers but unlucky in love.

The Occasional Virgin

حنان الشيخ

Roman i form af breve fra pigen Asmahan, der skildrer skæbner og begivenheder i borgerkrigens Libanon

بريد بيروت

This novel is told through letters of a woman in Beirut who chooses to suffer through the civil war rather than flee the tumult around her.

A Novel

Beirut Blues

The Lebanese author of Women of Sand and Myth presents seventeen short stories, eleven of them appearing in English for the first time, about the relationships between the cultures of East and West, and men and women. Original.

I Sweep the Sun Off Rooftops

'It is not surprising that The Story of Zahra is banned in several Arab countries. Subtle as it is, there is a subversive truthfulness to this portrait of a modern Arab family that is far removed from any bland ideal.'Sunday Times'In this impressive and eloquent novel, al-Shaykh has lifted the corner of a dark curtain.'Sunday TelegraphHaunted by memories of deception and betrayal, Zahra leaves Lebanon to visit her uncle in political exile in West Africa, taking with her the uncomfortable secrets of her seduction.Returning uncomforted to Beirut, Zahra re-enters a world of explosions, shootings, arbitrary death - and loveless marriage. What could possibly make more sense than to use her own body to divert a sniper from his task?Out of the terror of war, and of sexual confusion and abuse, comes a strange fulfilment of Zahra's search for ecstacy and for freedom. And every reader will dream with her of how life could be - if only the war were over.

The Story of Zahra

Mio signore, mio carnefice

The Arab world's greatest folk stories re-imagined by the acclaimed Lebanese novelist Hanan al-Shaykh, published to coincide with the world tour of a magnificent musical and theatrical production directed by Tim Supple

Ḥanān Shaykh

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