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| Finding Nouf: A Novel | 
 enlarge | Author: Zoe Ferraris
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Category: Book
List Price: $24.00
Buy New: $11.95
You Save: $12.05 (50%)
New (36) Used (16) from $9.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  24 reviews
Sales Rank: 65723
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 305
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.1
ISBN: 0618873880
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780618873883
ASIN: 0618873880
Publication Date: June 20, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: New hardback book, ships from TN.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Finding an excellent author July 20, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Finding Nouf is a beautifully crafted novel in terms of characters, plot and detail. As someone who has traveled periodically in the Middle East, I found the author's sense of place, her use of both Arabic and English, and descriptions of daily details to be accurate.
The issues and realities of tradition and contemporary life, described specifically in terms of gender relationships, was balanced and portrays well the multiple tensions between custom and twenty-first century relationship possibilities.
Because the author has experienced life firsthand within the cultural contexts she describes, hopefully we will hear more of this genuine and engaging authorial voice.
 A smart, solid debut that never falls back on easy answers or simple stereotypes August 18, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Life in Saudi Arabia is notoriously opaque. Closed to most outsiders and with women covered and often kept isolated, it is hard to imagine, much less penetrate, the social and personal customs and daily lives of the people who live there. First-time author Zoe Ferraris takes readers inside Saudi society with her exciting novel, FINDING NOUF. It is a tale of secrets and sensuality, propriety and identity --- and it is a good mystery as well.
When a teenage girl disappears from her isolated family home, a search is quickly organized. Fearing she was kidnapped, but lacking a ransom note, her parents and her many siblings and cousins are at a loss. Nouf ash-Shrawi seemingly vanished into the harsh desert, taking with her only a camel by her side. Could she have run away hesitant about her upcoming marriage, or feeling stifled by the religious laws and traditions that demanded modesty and subservience? Her brother Othman brings in a trusted friend to investigate. Nayir ash-Sharqi, along with his Bedouin comrades, begins to track Nouf, but her body is found at another site. Nayir's search continues, however. He hopes to solve the mystery of her death, understand the family he has known for so long and challenge himself personally and professionally.
Nayir is lonely for a real connection and longs for a wife and spiritual partner. He is strangely attracted to Katya Hijazi, a lab tech also working on Nouf's case. But her forwardness embarrasses him and forces him to rethink his beliefs about men and women and gender roles under Islam. He and Katya learn that they share a curiosity about Nouf as well as a relationship to the Shrawi family. The two continue to investigate Nouf's death and uncover her secrets, including a mysterious American who promised her a life of freedom in the U.S. But it is not easy work figuring out who killed her and why.
FINDING NOUF is a well-crafted mystery with several logical suspects, plenty of doubt and dead ends, a compelling corpse and likable investigators, in addition to a unique setting. The Saudi Islamic culture is, in fact, more than a setting; it is fascinating and very important to the tale. Yet it never distracts, and Ferraris never makes readers feel ignorant or like tourists. She brings us neatly into the worlds of Nouf and Nayir.
Ferraris also deftly plays with symbols and themes. The desert is a character of sorts, almost unknowable, revealing its secrets to those with patience. The evil eye crops up now and again to offer protection and signify tradition. For Nayir, a coat bought at the market on a whim acts like a talisman and allows him to don a new layer of self to confront the case and work with Katya. Many of the characters are outsiders to the rigid and traditional society in which they are living: Othman is the adopted Iraqi son of the Shrawi family, Nouf is passionate and curious in a world where she is expected to be quiet and restrained, Katya is educated and bold and seems to some immodest, and Nayir is a Palestinian raised by an uncle as a quasi-Bedouin in Saudi Arabia. Each searches for acceptance and peace but often finds danger, discomfort or worse. Perhaps, though, Nayir can find happiness once he puts Nouf's case behind him.
FINDING NOUF is a solid debut. It is interesting, smart and never falls back on easy answers or simple stereotypes. The characters are finely portrayed, and the strict Islamic culture is shown honestly but with great respect. Nayir is the Saudi man we don't commonly imagine: traditional yet kind, religious yet sensitive. The book is more literary than many murder mysteries but just as entertaining and is sure to please readers who wouldn't normally pick up a mystery. Saudi Arabia is a country most of us will only travel to in books, and Ferraris's story brings it to life for readers with a well-told narrative.
--- Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman
Totally enjoyable July 5, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I really enjoyed this book both as a mystery and as a way of learning more about Saudi society. How does a man solve the mysterious death of a woman when he can't question those who knew her best because they are also women? Very interesting characters and details about the Saudis. How do you eat an ice cream cone when wearing a head covering? Who purchases the bride's wedding clothes? I hope the author writes more novels. From the jacket info, it sounds like she's led a fascinating life!
LOVED this book! July 16, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I just finished reading Finding Nouf and rushed to the computer to see if I could find an e-mail address for the author to tell her how much I loved it! This is a great read, with characters who are intricate and interesting, the insights into "modern" Saudi Arabian life fascinating, the "whodunnit" mystery fun (though I was a bit disappointed in how it turned out, seemed a bit of an anti-climax), and the cultural/moral dilemmas beautifully drawn. Zoe replied she's working on another book with the same characters in it, and I hope she hurries up and publishes it, because I can't wait to read it!
Great Read August 10, 2008
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
Finding Nouf is one of those books that I am thinking about weeks after I've read it which speaks tons for a book as far as I'm concerned. Reading a book such as Finding Nouf is a great way to learn history and culture and this one did it for me. And, without badmouthing Saudi, well, I guess I am; but being joined at the hip with a country socially mired in the Middle Ages in light of our own culture and dependence on them for oil is disheartening to me. The author appears to be more kind to the Saudi culture than I would have been, i. e., I just read where the religious police now are confiscating people's pets as this might force men and women to acknowledge each's presence. Please! All that aside, I found this book delightful. A page turner that taught me a great deal. It sounds a little snobbish but when this book appeared on the San Francisco best sellers list, it confirmed my belief that when I read the books on the list, I an not disappointed.
I would be less than candid if I failed to admit that the scalding review on this site actually encouraged me to read the book. My experience on Amazon is that the readers are never as personal as this reviewer appears to be. I had to think, "what is this reviewers agenda?"
Since I always order more than one copy of a book, one went to my adult daughter. A voracious reader, she thought it was simply grand and kept calling me trying to entice an answer of "who was the killer?" Now, this is what a book is suppose to do. I've learned history, confirmed my prejudices about how backward Saudi is, shake my head that we have invaded probably the most secular country in the Mid East and all of this insight because of a really super book. I love this book and cannot recommend it enough.
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