''An Unnecessary Woman'' is a 2014 novel by the

Lebanese American Lebanese Americans ( ar, أمريكيون لبنانيون) are Americans of Lebanese descent. This includes both those who are native to the United States of America, as well as immigrants from Lebanon. Lebanese Americans comprise 0.79% of the ...

writer

Rabih Alameddine Rabih Alameddine ( ar, ربيع علم الدين; born 1959) is a Lebanese-American painter and writer. His 2021 novel ''The Wrong End of the Telescope'' won the 2022 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. Early life Alameddine was born in Amman, Jor ...

. The book was nominated for the

National Book Award for Fiction The National Book Award for Fiction is one of five annual National Book Awards, which recognize outstanding literary work by United States citizens. Since 1987 the awards have been administered and presented by the National Book Foundation, but ...

. The novel focuses on the experiences of an isolated 72-year-old woman, Aaliya Saleh, who is a shut-in in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

, exploring how she deals with her changing life.

Themes

Saleh secretly translates Western literature, like ''

Anna Karenina ''Anna Karenina'' ( rus, «Анна Каренина», p=ˈanːə kɐˈrʲenʲɪnə) is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in book form in 1878. Widely considered to be one of the greatest works of literature ever writt ...

'' and ''Austerlitz'' into Arabic, and makes continual references to authors like

Italo Calvino Italo Calvino (, also , ;. RAI (circa 1970), retrieved 25 October 2012. 15 October 1923 – 19 September 1985) was an Italian writer and journalist. His best known works include the '' Our Ancestors'' trilogy (1952–1959), the ''Cosmicomi ...

. Within this context the novel, thematically, focuses on the role of the reader in engaging and examining literature. As ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' describes, "Aaliyah keeps company with her writers – living and dead" instead of people. ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' explained, "Literature is Aaliya's religion and much of the wonderful humor in 'An Unnecessary Woman' comes from her pithy contempt for those who fail to live up to its sacred precepts."

Reception

The novel's reception was generally very positive. However,

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

noted that the plot is relatively limited, though the reviewer praised the writing, stating that, "I can't remember the last time I was so gripped simply by a novel's voice." ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'''s reviewer similarly highlighted how the novel has a very "elastic" voice, as the author narrates the novel with both interior dialogue and other narration strategies. ''The Guardian'' concludes positively writing that, "precisely in its strangeness, a genuine literary pleasure: a complicated one."

Open Letters Monthly ''Open Letters Monthly'' or ''Open Letters Monthly: an Arts and Literature Review'', was an online arts and culture magazine. It was founded in 2007 by Sam Sacks, John Cotter, and Steve Donoghue, and published its last issue in 2017. It features lo ...

reviewer Steve Donoghue called the novel "infinitely strange" but "smarter and more assured" than Alameddine's last novel '' The Hakawati''. Similarly ''

'' reviewer called the novel as "epic as its predecessor". ''

'' gave the novel a very positive review concluding, "read it once, read it twice, read other books for a decade or so, and then pick it up and read it anew. This one’s a keeper."

References

External links

* 2014 American novels Novels by Rabih Alameddine Novels set in Beirut Grove Press books {{2000s-novel-stub