Finding Nouf : A Novel

A Palestinian P.I. investigates the death of a pregnant Saudi teenager in a mystery that offers “a fascinating glimpse into the workings...of Saudi society” (Publishers Weekly). When sixteen-year-old Nouf ash-Shrawi goes missing, her prominent family calls on desert guide Nayir al-Sharqi to lead a search party. Ten days later, Nouf’s body is discovered. The coroner determines that she was several weeks pregnant. But even more unsettling is that she died not of dehydration but from drowning. Though her family is suspiciously uninterested in getting at the truth, Nayir is determined to find out what happened. Now Nayir, a gentle and pious Palestinian living in Saudi Arabia, must delve into Nouf’s secret life—no easy task in one of the world’s most rigidly gender-segregated societies. Shocked by the idea of a woman baring her face and working in public, Nayir realizes that to gain access to the hidden world of Saudi women, he will have to join forces with Katya Hijazi, a lab worker at the coroner’s office. As their partnership leads to surprising revelations, it also challenges Nayir, bringing him face to face with his desire for female companionship and the limitations imposed by his beliefs. A novel of taut psychological suspense, offering an unprecedented window into Saudi Arabia and the lives of the men and women who live there. Zo Ferrariss electrifying debut of taut psychological suspense offers an unprecedented window into Saudi Arabia and the lives of men and women there. When sixteen-year-old Nouf goes missing, along with a truck and her favorite camel, her prominent family calls on Nayir al-Sharqi, a desert guide, to lead a 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 coroners 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 to her. This mission will push gentle, hulking, pious Nayir, a Palestinian orphan raised by his bachelor uncle, to delve into the secret life of a rich, protected teenage girl -- in one of the most rigidly gender-segregated of Middle Eastern societies. Initially horrified at the idea of a woman bold enough to bare her face and to work in public, Nayir soon 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 coroners office. Their partnership challenges Nayir, bringing him face to face with his desire for female companionship and the limitations imposed by his beliefs. It also ultimately leads them both to surprising revelations. Fast-paced and utterly transporting, Finding Nouf offers an intimate glimpse inside a closed society and a riveting literary mystery. First published as Night of the Mi'raj in the UK. When sixteen-year-old Nouf goes missing and is found drowned in the desert outside Jeddah, Nayir--a desert guide hired by her prominent family to search for her--feels compelled to find out what really happened * A compelling page-turner with a wonderful central character, which also gives a fascinating insight into the closed world of Saudi Arabia