Author | Jokha Alharthi |
---|---|
Original title | سيدات القمر |
Translator | Marilyn Booth |
Language | Arabic |
Genre | Fiction |
Published | |
Publisher |
|
Media type | Print, digital |
Pages | 243 |
Awards | International Booker Prize |
ISBN | 1912240165 (Sandstone Press) |
Celestial Bodies (Arabic: سيدات القمر, romanized: Sayyidat al-Qamar, lit. 'Ladies of the Moon') is a 2010 novel by Omani author Jokha Alharthi. The novel follows the lives of three sisters and their unhappy marriages in al-Awafi, Oman.[1][2]
The novel has been translated into over 20 languages[3] and marks the first novel by an Omani woman to be translated into English,[4] as well as the first Omani novel to be translated to Italian.[5] The original novel won the Best Omani Novel Award in 2010[6] and was longlisted for the Zayed Book Award in the 'Young Author' category in 2011.[7] In 2019, the English translation was awarded the International Booker Prize, with Alharthi and translator Marilyn Booth equally sharing the £50,000 prize.[8] Celestial Bodies is also the first novel to be translated from Arabic to win the prize.[4]
The review aggregator website Book Marks reported an overall "Positive" rating by critics for the novel, based on 11 reviews: 5 "Rave" reviews, 4 "Positive" reviews, and 2 "Mixed" reviews.[9] Kirkus Reviews described Celestial Bodies as "a richly layered, ambitious work that teems with human struggles and contradictions",[10] while The Irish Times stated the novel "deftly undermines recurrent stereotypes about Arab language and cultures but most importantly brings a distinctive and important new voice to world literature."[2]