Hayati, My Life: A Novel

Arab American Writing

by Miriam Cooke

Miriam Cooke’s melic prose animates the existence of each of the women portrayed in her new novel. With Samya, we live in Palestine of the 1920s and are imprisoned during the imposition of the British Mandate; with Assia we experience the massacre of Deir Assin, the death of a son, and the establishment of the State of Israel; with Maryam we survive war and diaspora—the Suez War, the Intifada, the Iran-Iraq War, and the scattering of a family to three different countries. Finally, with the mute painter Araf’s rape, we experience the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, and when Hibba returns to Jerusalem the circle is complete. The historical and political aspects of Hayati (a term of endearment, literally meaning “my life”) chart fresh territory for the American reader, showing us a Palestine and an Arab people we do not know from the inside and from a deeply imaginative and humanistic perspective. Cooke makes evident a trenchant grasp of the mechanics of everyday living—the politics may be Palestine-specific, but the theme of endurance is universal. Many novels entertain, while others inform. In this effective and dramatic post-modern novel, Cooke succeeds in accomplishing both.

Genres: Middle East, Literature

152 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2000

About the author

miriam cooke is Braxton Craven Professor emerita of Arab Cultures at Duke University. She has been a visiting professor in Tunisia, Romania, Indonesia, Qatar and Alliance of Civilizations Institute in Istanbul. She serves on several international advisory boards, including academic journals and institutions.

Her writings have focused on the intersection of gender and war in modern Arabic literature, Arab women writers’ constructions of Islamic feminism and Arab cultural studies with a concentration on the Arabian Gulf and Syria. She has published fifteen books and is currently working on a novel about World War II Palestine.

Three of her books (Women Claim Islam; Women and the War Story and The Anatomy of an Egyptian Intellectual: Yahya Haqqi) were named Choice Outstanding Academic Books. Several books have been translated into Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, French and German.

Reviews

[Zach VandeZande · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really did not care for the prose style of this book and the melodramatic push that the plot takes. I can understand why this book might be seen by some as an important work, but it just wasn't doing it for me.