8 Of The Best Holiday Books To Read This Summer
We’ve shortlisted eight new books by female MENA writers to keep you turning pages by the pool…
This summer, be transported – and we don’t just mean to a Caribbean island or the French Riviera – although you should absolutely do that, too. We’re talking about the myriad worlds conjured by the latest and greatest books on our holiday reading wishlist.
Here are eight brilliant new releases, all authored by women from the MENA region. Pack one or all of them; they’re worth the extra luggage space.
8 Of The Best Holiday Books To Read This Summer
Good Girl
By Aria Aber
”A girl can get in almost anywhere, even if she can’t get out.” In this powerful debut, Aria Aber crafts a coming of age story about a young girl of Afghan descent, as her path crosses with a washed-up American writer in Berlin’s legendary nightclubs. As she is slowly pulled into his fascinating orbit, her life starts to unravel at the seams.
What Will People Think?
By Sarah Hamdan
A heart-warming tale – in equal parts comedic and poignant – that follows Mia Almas, a Palestinian-American woman who leads a double life. Part time media fact checker, part time stand-up comedian in late-night clubs; the latter is a closely guarded secret from her family – much like her forbidden romance with her boss.
The Persians
By Sanam Mahloudji
This darkly funny debut novel by Sanam Mahloudji, set between the 1940’s to the early 2000’s, follows the lives of five Iranian women from a once-eminent family as they confront changing political and personal revelations. The Persians is impossible to put down, exploring how to find yourself – and each other – in times of civic unrest.
Fundamentally
By Nussaibah Younis
Nussaibah Younis’ debut novel was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize For Fiction 2025, and follows the coming-of-age journey of a young, witty, and kind PhD student recruited by The United Nations to foster a rehabilitation programme for young Iraqi women caught in the crossfire of war. What follows is a tale that inspects radicalism, familial bonds, and the innate urge for us all to belong somewhere.
The Dream Hotel
By Laila Lalami
The Dream Hotel, a Pulitzer prize finalist, presents a near-future dystopia where even our dreams are monitored. The storyline follows Sara, a women wrongfully detained by authorities for having dreams that suggest she might harm her husband. The tale explores one women’s fight for freedom against the technology that aims to keep women like her shackled.
I’ll Tell You When I’m Home
By Hala Alyan
In this deeply personal and heartfelt memoir by acclaimed Palestinian-American writer Hala Aylan, the author recounts her journey to motherhood via surrogacy. Exploring exile and intergenerational trauma, Hala recounts her experience of her daughter being carried by a woman in a different country, and her family’s displacement from Palestine to Kuwait, Lebanon and beyond.
There Are Rivers In The Sky
By Elif Shafak
Elif Shafak’s There Are Rivers In The Sky presents three protagonists across three separate eras, bound together by a single raindrop. Exploring memory, nature’s force, and transience through themes of water, each character’s tale demonstrates their interconnectedness, despite hailing from destinations as disparate as ancient Nineveh to modern-day London.
The Hollow Half
By Sarah Aziza
Sarah Aziza’s debut memoir tackles two moving themes – her almost deadly anorexia diagnosis, and the challenges faced by three generations of her Palestinian family. Confronting themes of diaspora, Palestinian identity, and political reckoning, this is a moving text that leaves its mark.
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