In Kim Ghattas (CRF 2019)’s new novel, Black Wave: Saudi Arabia, Iran and the Forty Year Rivalry that Unraveled Culture, Religion and Collective Memory in the Middle East, she explores forty years of history, since the Iranian revolution of 1979, through the lives of 15 characters in seven countries, from Egypt to Pakistan… a kind One Thousand and One Nights of contemporary Middle East history, full of poetry, lyrics of songs, literature, and truly incredible characters from the Egyptian novelist Ahmed Naji to Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.Â
It was published on January 28 in the US and on January 17 in the UK and elsewhere. It has been chosen as one of the books to look forward to in 2020 by the FT and by NYT.Â