Bitter Orange Tree: A Novel

From Man Booker International Prize–winning author Jokha Alharthi, Bitter Orange Tree is a profound exploration of social status, wealth, desire, & female agency. It presents a mosaic portrait of one young woman’s attempt to understand the roots she has grown from & to envisage an adulthood in which her own power & happiness might find the freedom necessary to bear fruit & flourish. 

Zuhour, an Omani student at a British university, is caught between the past & the present. As she attempts to form friendships & assimilate in Britain, she can’t help but ruminate on the relationships that have been central to her life. Most prominent is her strong emotional bond with Bint Amir, a woman she always thought of as her grandmother, who passed away just after Zuhour left the Arabian Peninsula. 

As the historical narrative of Bint Amir’s challenged circumstances unfurls in captivating fragments, so too does Zuhour’s isolated & unfulfilled present, one narrative segueing into another as time slips & dreams mingle with memories.