Celestial Bodies is set in the village of al-Awafi in Oman, where we encounter three sisters: Mayya, who marries Abdallah after a heartbreak; Asma, who marries from a sense of duty; and Khawla who rejects all offers while waiting for her beloved, who has emigrated to Canada. These three women and their families witness Oman evolve from a traditional, slave-owning society slowly redefining itself after the colonial era, to the crossroads of its complex present. Elegantly structured and taut, Celestial Bodies is a coiled spring of a novel, telling of Oman’s coming-of-age through the prism of one family’s losses and loves.

Translated from Arabi

Intro; Title Page; Dedication; Translator's Introduction; Mayya; Abdallah; London; Abdallah; Asma; Qamar, the Moon; Abdallah; Motherhood; Abdallah; Zarifa; Abdallah; Masouda; Abdallah; Mayya and London; Abdallah; Husbands; Abdallah; Khawla; Abdallah; Viper; Abdallah; Salima; Azzan and Qamar; Abdallah; Zarifa; Azzan and Qamar; Abdallah; Asma; Abdallah; Ankabuta; Abdallah; Salima; Abdallah; Asma; Salima; Abdallah; Azzan and Qamar; The Bridal Procession; Abdallah; Azzan and Qamar; Abdallah; London; Zarifa; Asma and Khalid; Abdallah; The Man in the Desert; Khawla; Abdallah; Khalid Asma and the moonAbdallah's mother; Cousin Marwan; Sulayman; Masouda, still here; Abdallah; London; Khawla; Abdallah; Copyright