The Cry of the Dove: A Novel
In Faqir's haunting, fragmented third novel (following Pillars of Salt), Bedouin teenager Salma Ibrahim El-Musa has become Sally Ascher, longing to fit in to her adopted rural Devon, England. As the novel unfolds in retrospect, Salma becomes pregnant by her lover, Hamdan, who repudiates her. Under threat of an honor killing at the hands of her family and tribe, Salma is put in protective prison custody, where her newborn daughter, Layla, is taken from her; she then escapes, with her family in pursuit. The story of Salma's flight alternates with her emigré travails, where she cruises bars, hopelessly picking up men: seeking human connection, self-inflicted punishment, and escape from the pain of being separated from Layla. Always Salma sees, lurking in the shadows, the figure of her brother, Mahmoud, coming to "shoot her between the eyes." Faqir skillfully weaves together the strands of Salma's life, and movingly follows her torturous path to asylum, and to her adult self and life.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.