Pages: 432
Genre: Literary Fiction
Author: Mo Ogrodnik
Dounia, a young Saudi mother, finds herself alienated in a desolate, post-weather, air-conditioned modernist box and decides to rebel against all forms of domesticity. Flora, a Filipina domestic worker haunted by the flood that claimed her infant’s life, navigates the perils of her boss’s insurrection. Zeinah, a Syrian woman, seeks love within the confines of her arranged marriage to a jihadist and finds herself joining the female morality police. Justine, a white American curator, reckons with her own violence and ethical limitations when her life intersects with Eskedare, a spirited and defiant Ethiopian teenager whose dreams have dead-ended in the Gulf. Bold moves unlock vital consequences, each woman’s journey confronting us with our own capacity for cruelty, rebellion, resilience—and hope.
Written with unsettling intimacy and determined empathy, Gulf exposes the stark realities of what happens when a woman’s agency is stripped away and asks how far we will go in order to survive.
Comments (1)
This was a great, challenging read but also very depressing. It was so complex, and there were definitely characters that I did not like. There was a lot going on in each chapter, and I found it a little hard to follow at times (especially in the beginning when I wasn’t familiar with the characters). I loved this book, but also didn’t know how I felt about it after I finished. I felt a bit deflated and heavy. After finishing it and thinking about it, I think it could have been split out into 2 books to provide more depth into the characters and also balance out the heaviness. 4.25/5 for me!