Fatma
Subtitle: a novel of Arabia
By: Raja Alem with Tom McDonough.
Contributors: McDonough, Tom.
Edition: 1st ed.
Series: Middle East literature in translation
Publisher: Syracuse University Press; Syrcause University Press
Published: 2002
Place of publication: Syracuse
Language: eng
Number of pages: 164
Work titles: Fāṭimah.
Description: "Fatma, an Arabian peasant girl, unwittingly embarks upon a strange journey of transformation the day her father marries her off to a snake handler with a sideline in potions brewed from venom. When Fatma is bitten by one of the snakes, she is changed from an innocent girl into an overpoweringly sensuous woman with a mysterious talent for controlling her husband's snakes and an ability to travel with them into realms beyond ordinary human experience." "Journeying into the Netherworld with her snakes, Fatma meets Prince Taray, a melancholoy warrior-hero. She and Taray bewitch each other and struggle toward union in rapturous rituals during which, among other things, Fatma alternately bursts into flames and melts into golden liquid." "Resonating with ritual and mystery, Fatma is a tale of one woman's path to ecstasy - an enraptured vision of enchantment in this world and fulfillment in another."--BOOK JACKET