Finding Nouf by Zoe Ferraris
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Finding Nouf is the story of a man in Saudi Arabia trying to find out what happened to the sister of a friend. Everyone thinks 16 year old Nouf ran away to the desert to avoid an arranged marriage. Nayir, who is a desert guide and friend of her brother is asked to track her down. When her body is found, it appears that she may have been murdered.
Nayir, a working class traditional man in his thirties, can’t understand why a 16 year old who comes from a good family that is extremely rich would try to escape from this lush, rich life. When he comes to pick up the corpse from the morgue he meets a 28 year old female medical examiner who suggests that there may be more to what happened than all he has heard.
This is really the story of Nayir, a lonely man in his thirties who has only an uncle living and therefore, no one to really find a woman for him. When he meets the untraditional medical examiner he is both repelled and fascinated by her. However, the story is not a romance.
Ferraris writes wonderfully making us feel what it must be like to live in Jeddah City. She captures the villas of the rich, the HEAT, and the limted access for both men and women especially with the fears of the religious police who walk around and control inappropriate behavior or dress.
This book will appeal to those who like mysteries in other lands and especially other cultures.