An Unnecessary Woman

By: Rabih Alameddine

Narrated by: Suzanne Toren

One of the Middle East's most celebrated voices, Rabih Alameddine follows his international best seller, The Hakawati, with an enchanting story of a book-loving, obsessive, 72-year-old "unnecessary" woman.

Aaliya Saleh lives alone in her Beirut apartment, surrounded by stockpiles of books. Godless, fatherless, childless, and divorced, Aaliya is her family's "unnecessary appendage." Every year, she translates a new favorite book into Arabic, then stows it away. The 37 books that Aaliya has translated over her lifetime have never been read by anyone.

In this breathtaking portrait of a reclusive woman's late-life crisis, listeners follow Aaliya's digressive mind as it ricochets across visions of past and present Beirut. Colorful musings on literature, philosophy, and art are invaded by memories of the Lebanese Civil War and Aaliya's own volatile past. As she tries to overcome her aging body and spontaneous emotional upwellings, Aaliya is faced with an unthinkable disaster that threatens to shatter the little life she has left.

A love letter to literature and its power to define who we are, the prodigiously gifted Rabih Alameddine has given us a nuanced rendering of one woman's life in the Middle East.

©2013 Rabih Alameddine. Recorded by arrangement with Grove/Atlantic, Inc. (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Love this book.

This was a fascinating book. I really enjoyed it. The Narrator was amazing. Highly recommend.

Made me wish I'd read more in my past

Very soulful book, showing one woman's inner thoughts in depth. Nothing much actually happens in the book, but the delth of reflection on her life and how this connects to literature is interesting.

Could be called " A Solitary and Self Fulfilling Woman"

A little slow and repetitive , but it may have been key to developing this unique woman.

Poetic, excessively literary, quietly lush

This is a very specific book, extremely literary and poetic. It starts out quite, quite slowly and builds slowly, towards a truly lovely ending. It is, much like a life.

There is much I related to in the narrator (character) - although at times I felt so done with her. I also truly felt I was in Beirut, which I enjoyed - it’s a city I really wish to visit.

The performance is quite good and it seems like the woman can really speak Arabic? I’m not sure but I enjoyed thinking it was true.

It’s a strange quiet story and I quite liked it.

Brilliant performance

Suzanne Toren does a magnificent job reading this book The character comes alive with all her nuance and subtlety. Brava!