Laila

Description

Although the Arabic world is as diverse as any other region, customs and traditions endure. Injustices continue. And then there is Laila. Trapped in a marriage to a man she finds physically revolting, Laila begins to realize secret truths about her sexuality, about her very identity as a modern Jordanian woman. “Good” Arab women may have occasional lurid fantasies about dominating men in bed … but Laila actually finds the strength to do it. And when she dies suddenly in an encounter with a lover, the stakes for the survivors become a matter of life and death. In Laila, Fadi Zaghmout gives voice to the Arab woman to put men in her society on trial.

Fadi Zaghmout is a Jordanian author and sexual freedoms & body rights advocate. He holds an MA in Creative Writing and Critical Thinking from the University of Sussex in the UK. He has published six novels: The Bride of Amman, Heaven on Earth, Laila, The Man of Middling Height, and Hope on Earth. His work is translated into English, French, and Italian. Winner of the UK Study Alumni Social Action Award in the UAE 2024.