The Sand Fish
United Arab Emirates

The Sand Fish

by Maha Gargash

Women & Society Historical Fiction Fiction 2009

Summary

In 1950s Dubai, seventeen-year-old Noora dreams of a life beyond the traditions that dictate her future. After her mother’s death and her father’s descent into madness, her brother arranges her marriage to a wealthy pearl merchant many years her senior. Trapped in an unfamiliar household alongside his two other wives, Noora struggles to find her place in a world where her choices are limited and her future depends on producing an heir. But an unexpected passion offers her a glimpse of another life—and leaves her with a dangerous secret that could cost her everything. Inspired by the image of a sand fish, a desert creature that injures itself desperately trying to escape its surroundings, Noora’s story is a poignant portrait of a woman caught between duty and desire. Against the backdrop of a society on the brink of transformation, The Sand Fish explores female independence, forbidden love, and the courage to seek freedom when every path seems closed.

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Maha Gargash
Country
United Arab Emirates
Asia
About the author
Maha Gargash
Maha Gargash

Maha Gargash is an Emirati novelist and documentary filmmaker born in Dubai to a prominent Emirati family. She studied radio and television at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., before completing a master’s degree at Goldsmiths, University of London. In 1985, she joined Dubai Television, where she worked on documentaries exploring traditional Arab societies. Her work in television took her across the region and gave her opportunities to research and document the cultural traditions that later became central to her fiction. Her debut novel, The Sand Fish (2009), is set in the United Arab Emirates during the 1950s and explores a young woman’s struggle for independence in a rapidly changing society. Her second novel, That Other Me (2016), examines family secrets, social expectations, and women’s ambitions in contemporary Gulf Arab culture. Through richly detailed settings and complex family relationships, Gargash brings Emirati life and traditions to an international readership.

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Details
Published
2009
Author
Maha Gargash