Recommendations from our site
“El Khayat’s a psychiatrist, writer and poet. She was very much influenced by Marguerite Duras’s The Lover. The Affair has been described as the first book by an Arab woman to chart an affair like this, the first erotic novel. She published it initially under a pseudonym, Lyne Tywa, in the 90s…The plot essentially charts an affair that goes on for several years between a young woman and an older man who is a bit of an intellectual. They meet mainly in what she calls ‘the slum’, even though they’re both—by the description of the circles they move in—more affluent. Like the Salwa Al Neimi book, there is not a consistent chronological development, it’s quite choppy. But it’s a series of meetings and strong emotions and scenes that she places together.” Read more...
Selma Dabbagh, Novelist
