Middle Eastern Fiction

Benard, Cheryl.  The Moghul Buffet (1998)

Micky Malone lives in Bethesda , dines at Taco Bell, takes a vacation only when he has to, and feels happiest when connected to the many gigabytes of his computer. When an unfortunate chain of events forces him to go on a business trip to Peshawar , an "unpleasant border town in the most troubled part of the troubled country of Pakistan," it doesn't take long for his worst fears about foreign destinations to come true.

Bromell, Henry.  Little America (2001)

Little America is set in contemporary Boston and fictional Kurash near Iraq ; it is the story of a man searching for the truth about his father's past, the key to which is locked away in the CIA code of silence.  The author was the producer of the TV program "Northern Exposure."

Durrell, Lawrence. The Alexandria Quartet- Justine, Balthazar , MountOlive and Clea (1957 -)

The lush and sensuous tetralogy is set in Alexandria, Egypt , during the 1940s. Three of the books are written in the first person, Mount Olive in the third. The first three volumes describe, from different viewpoints, a series of events in Alexandria before World War II; the fourth carries the story forward into the war years. The events of the narrative are mostly seen through the eyes of L.G. Darley , who observes the interactions of his lovers, friends, and acquaintances in Alexandria.

Fallaci, Oriana.  Inshallah (1992)

Following the bombing of the American Marine barracks in Beirut, an Italian soldier stationed in that strife-torn city comments upon the event and its reverberations.

Gordimer, Nadine.  The Pickup (2001)

A love affair between a wealthy South African woman and an Arab illegal alien challenges their notions of race, class, and citizenship.

Hamilton, Masha. Staircase of a Thousand Steps (2001)

Set in Transjordan before the 1967 war with Israel, Jammana and Faridah, the midwife, find themselves caught between the old world and the new.

Hensher, Philip.  The Mulberry Empire, or, The Two Virtuous Journeys of the Amir Dost Mohammed Khan (2002)

Follows the 1839 mission of fifty thousand British troops, who entered Afghanistan to replace the amir with someone less hostile, a campaign that led to the annihilation of the British forces and the triumph of the Afghans.

Johnson, Diane.  Persian Nights (1987)

When Chloe Fowler's husband leaves her in Iran to return home unexpectedly, she becomes involved with his colleague while the revolutionary atmosphere intensifies.

Kazan, Frances. Halide's Gift (2001)

In late-nineteenth-century Constantinople , two sisters, Selima and Mahmoure , from a family with close ties to the sultan, are torn apart by their love for two very different men and by a dangerous political divide.

Khouri, Norma. Honor Lost: Love and Death in Modern-Day Jordan (2003)

Non-fiction, this narrative was written secretly in an Internet café and  tells of "honor killings" of women in Jordan. The writer's friend was killed by her own father because she fell in love with a young Catholic man.  It is Khouri's hope that this book will bring attention to this barbaric practice in Jordan.

Mahfouz, Naguib is the 1^st Arabic writer to win the Nobel Prize. 

A prolific writer, he is known for his Cairo Trilogy, the first of which is The Palace Walk.  These books chronicle Egypt's development from 1917 into the 1950's with a sensuous family saga.  Mahfouz has been called the Egyptian Balzac.

Makiya, Kanan. The Rock: A Tale of Seventh Century Jerusalem (2001)

Historical fiction intertwining Islamic, Jewish and Christian threads about the famous Dome of the Rock on Mount Zion in 7^th century Jerusalem. Makiya's other novels include Republic of Fear: The Politics of Modern Iraq (1998)

Michener, James. The Source (1965)

An archeological excavation of Tell Makor initiates a journey into the ancient history and culture of Israel that explores the life of the early Hebrews, the impact of Christianity, the Spanish inquisition, and the modern Middle East conflict.

Soueif, Ahdaf. The Map of Love (1999)

At the end of the twentieth century, Isabel Parkman, a divorced American journalist, journeys to Egypt to unravel the truth behind her ancestor, an English widow who fell in love in 1901 with an Egyptian man.

Stone, Robert. Damascus Gate (1998)

In a novel of political intrigue and religious fanaticism set in Jerusalem, an expatriate American journalist becomes drawn into duplicity on both sides of the Israeli-Arab conflict.

Uris, Leon. Exodus (1958)

People from different backgrounds come to Palestine to help create the Jewish state of Israel after World War II.  Uris expertly weaves history and fiction to bring to life the stories of individual characters.

Willentz, Amy. Martyr's Crossing (2001)

Israeli lieutenant Ari Doron falls in love with the wife of a jailed Palestinian militant in the midst of a wave of terrorism that he may have set into motion because he followed orders and refused  passage to a young mother and her ailing child.