KUWAIT: Mai Al-Nakib’s novel, An Unlasting Home, narrates the saga of multiple women characters across generations. Through flashbacks and memories, the novel shifts between the 20th and 21st centuries in Kuwait, where most of the plot is set. It explores the consequences - enriching for some, devastating for others - of Kuwait’s post-oil transformation.
Through a complex web of familial and societal ties, the novel brings together characters from diverse backgrounds and countries - Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq, and India - across various circumstances, ultimately meeting in Kuwait. At the heart of this tapestry is Sara, a professor of philosophy at Kuwait University, whose journey serves as the linchpin connecting the disparate threads of the narrative.
Themes of belonging, identity, democracy, freedom, authoritarianism, censorship, and societal expectations unfold through Sara, whose life is under threat after she is accused of blasphemy for her lectures at Kuwait University. ‘An Unlasting Home’ is recommended for people who are interested in historical and literary fiction and the fundamental need for belonging. The book resonates with readers long after they finish.
Who is Mai Al-Nakib?
Mai Al-Nakib is a Kuwaiti author and, for twenty years, was an associate professor of English and comparative literature at Kuwait University. In addition to her novel, ‘An Unlasting Home’, published by Mariner Books in 2022, Al-Nakib’s short story collection, The Hidden Light of Objects, was published by Bloomsbury in 2014. It won the Edinburgh International Book Festival’s First Book Award. Al-Nakib’s occasional essays have appeared in numerous international publications, including: World Literature Today; New Lines Magazine; BLARB: Blog of the LA Review of Books; The Markaz Review; and the BBC World Service; among others.