She does so with the encouragement of a little girl who hears and sees everything, the keeper of all secrets. The story is set in an oasis village on a dark-red desert land in contemporary Palestine, against the political backdrop of the Israeli occupation. It is told over a period of 24 hours separated by the intervals between 5 prayer times. The title refers to a magical, healing substance that runs through the land like its lifeblood and the name of each character denotes their destiny. With narratives broken by memories, unspeakable acts and desires are revealed, articulated.
Conflicts shaped by cultural, sacred and emotional allegiances emerge.
Through the themes of suicide and liberation, the story of one woman, one village and one people is told. This new edition has entries for 1271 Arab women literary authors from 1800 to 1996, listed alphabetically by last name. Each entry contains biographical information, a bibliography of the woman's writings, and a bibliography of critical works on her in Arabic and Western languages. The work concludes with a list of general sources on the topic in Arabic and Western languages.