Bride of the Sea

Adult multicultural fiction 

     "She is nineteen.  He is twenty-three.  They have been married for a year and a half and their first child will be born soon.  And the word divorce is whispering in his ear, a secret no one else knows."

      Not surprisingly.  Muneer and Saeedah are cousins.  In their native Saudi Arabia they marry as a consequence of violating rules.  He gives her an unchaperoned ride in his car.  They are seen.

     "'Give her what she wants,' his mother had said.  'And she won't be your problem anymore.  She'll be my son's problem.  God help them."

     Those are not exactly auspicious circumstances for starting a life together, especially in another country.  They go to America where Muneer is a student a week after their wedding.  Not surprisingly, the marriage ends when the baby, Hanadi, is four.  By religious custom Saeedah is supposed to raise Hamadi until her seventh birthday and then hand custody over to her ex husband, who has returned to Saudi Arabia so he can find the best possible marriage match for her.

     Saeedah is determined to not give her beautiful daughter up.  She tells Hanadi that Muneer is dead and flees to a friend's house where she cuts their long hair and changes their names.  This is only the first of numerous spur of the moment moves undertaken whenever she feels that her secret is about to be discovered.

     Saeedah is not being paranoid.  Muneer desperately misses Hanadi and is willing to do anything to bring her back to Saudi Arabia.  Even when his family starts to encourage him to move on, marry again, and start a new family, he pays private investigators in the United States.  He personally flies every time he gets a particularly promising bit of intelligence.

     And then there's poor Hanadi, the child whose address and identity are changed about as often as most of us swap out summer and winter clothes.  What will happen if she discovers that her life as she knows it is based on a lie?

     If you like fiction based on the strengths and weaknesses of humans, the choices they make, and the repercussions these choices have on other people's lives, you'll find Eman Quotah's Bride of the Sea to be a must read.

On a purrrsonal note, today we had snow cones at the commuter lounge.  Of course my job was to run all over letting people know what we had to offer.  Which meant I had to eat a lot of snow cones.  Can you say sugar buzz?  (Jules)

Why do people like sugar so much?  Tuna is a truly addictive substance.  (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to you, our readers, with best wishes for a great weekend!

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone