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Book REVIEW:The Thirty Names of Night: A Novel Zeyn Joukhadar

March 16, 2021

The Thirty Names of Night: A Novel

Zeyn Joukhadar

Oh, this book, it trembled when I opened it and then sucked me into this gorgeous, crepuscular narrative which I could feel breathing next to me, it’s so alive!  It’s a stunning portrait of a young Syrian American artist and how love, life and work twist together in his life as he seeks to express his true gender.  Taking divergent strands of very different narratives, testimonies and dreamlike sequences the author weaves these into a magical carpet ride, full of unexpected emotion, geographic love letters to New York and Queer working-class Arab communities across metropolitan America. It’s full of ghosts, the protagonist’s mother is a touchstone presence whose loss seems to stall development, but the past is everywhere, underfoot. This is an exploration of belonging, family, connections, a grappling with how and what we see around us can lead us into the obvious, hidden in plain sight and a mysterious bird which appears to suggest profound connections between generations.

This constant underpinning of history, family and meaning gives a platform for the author to explore new identities, seek out trans & queer communities and explore the true meaning of belonging,  family and self-love. Joukhadar’s prose is seductively beautiful but also so sharp it cuts, deep, down into the living urgent flesh, past secrets and dreams, into the very heart of this narrative about the search for meaning.

I learned so much from reading this book, but the author feels no need to explain anything, the writing is so effortlessly rich and so compassionate to the lives of the narrators that understanding is natural.

out now £16

For more info or to order this book see the publishers website here: 

 

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