Rabih Alameddine

An Unnecessary Woman centres on Aaliya Saleh, a seventy-two-year-old woman living alone in Beirut. Divorced and estranged from much of her family, Aaliya has spent decades translating literary works into Arabic for her own satisfaction, often without publishing or sharing them. Books provide her with companionship, intellectual freedom, and a refuge from the expectations of a society that frequently overlooks older women. As political tensions and personal memories intrude on her carefully ordered life, Aaliya reflects on her relationships, the civil war, and the choices that have shaped her existence. Her solitary routine is disrupted when an unexpected event threatens to expose the private world she has built around literature. Alameddine explores ageing, independence, cultural identity, and the importance of art, portraying a woman who finds meaning not through conventional success but through the life of the mind.

True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother) follows Raja, a gay Lebanese man in his late sixties who lives in Beirut and spends his days writing letters to a mysterious correspondent he calls the “Dear Comrade.” Through these letters, Raja recounts his unconventional life, his complicated relationship with his formidable mother, and the experiences that have shaped his identity. His story moves between personal memories and Lebanon’s turbulent political and cultural history, touching on sexuality, religion, war, and the challenges of growing older in a society marked by contradiction. With characteristic wit, irreverence, and tenderness, Rabih Alameddine explores the boundaries between truth and storytelling, revealing how people reinvent their pasts to make sense of their lives. Beneath its humour lies a moving portrait of family bonds, loneliness, and the search for acceptance. The novel celebrates the freedom to live outside conventional expectations while acknowledging the enduring power of love, memory, and belonging.