Improvisations on a missing string
By: Nazik Saba Yared ; translated from the Arabic by Stuart A. Hancox.
Contributors: Hancox, Stuart A., 1960-
Publisher: University of Arkansas Press
Published: 1997
Place of publication: Fayetteville
Language: eng
Number of pages: 133
Description: Improvisations on a Missing String tells the story of Saada Rayyis, who, after a mastectomy and prior to another operation which she may not survive, considers the course of her life with the purpose of understanding not only where she has been, but also where she is going. In her attempt to cope with complex feelings of alienation and insecurity, she struggles against traditional expectations in order to secure a sense of belonging and fulfillment - but always on her own terms.

From her childhood in Palestine, through her university studies in Cairo, and finally as a teacher in Beirut, we follow the development of this independent woman as she comes to terms with her feelings about family, lovers, politics, art, and finally her own aspirations for belonging.