The Zanzibar Wife

by Deborah Rodriguez

Oman. The ancient land of frankincense, wind-swept deserts, craggy mountaintops and turquoise seas. Into this magical nation come three remarkable women, each facing a crossroad in her life.

Rachel, an American war photographer, who is struggling to shed the trauma of her career. Now she is headed to Oman to cover quite a different story - for a glossy travel magazine.

Ariana Khan, a bubbly English woman who has rashly volunteered as Rachel's 'fixer', a job she's never heard of in a country she knows nothing about.

And Miza, a young woman living far from her beloved homeland of Zanzibar. As the second wife of Tariq, she remains a secret from his terrifying 'other' wife, Maryam. Until the day that Tariq fails to come home...

As the three women journey together across this extraordinary land, they quickly learn that, in Oman, things aren't always what they appear to be...

The Zanzibar Wife is a bewitching story of clashing cultures and conflicting beliefs, of secrets and revelations, of mystery and magic, by the author of the beloved international bestseller The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul.

'As if Maeve Binchy had written 'The Kite Runner' - Kirkus Reviews

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Womens Fiction, Africa, Middle East, Womens, Chick Lit

336 pages, Paperback

Published January 25, 2017

About the author

Deborah Rodriguez is a hairdresser, a motivational speaker, and the author of the bestselling memoir Kabul Beauty School.
She spent five years teaching at and later directing the Kabul Beauty School, the first modern beauty academy and training salon in Afghanistan. Rodriguez also owned the Oasis Salon and the Cabul Coffee House.
She currently lives in Mexico.

Reviews

[Phrynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I chose to read this because I needed a title beginning with Z for a challenge and I have been to Zanzibar and loved it there. Much of the book ended up taking place in Oman but that was all very interesting too.

Rachel, Ariana and Miza are three women from three different cultures who end up becoming involved in each other's lives. They all have problems which they eventually work together to solve. The author fills the book with discussion about cultural behaviours, descriptions of houses and countryside and plenty of mysticism to help the story along.

This was a quick and easy read. I occasional got cranky with Ariana who was a very irritating person but I certainly liked this book more than I did The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul.

[Toast · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this a really enlightening tale about two main places - Oman and Zanzibar, peoples, cultures and religions I know nothing about all wrapped around a story so female led it was refreshing. There was a lightness to the writing, a go to approach to the story, a directness to the characters that didn't hinder the tale or drag it down with baggage that could so easily have done. Don't get me wrong there is a strong difficult story to tale here but it is not weighted down with all the usual stuff that a story about the Middle East gets bogged down with. Instead I learnt somethings about the region, somethings positive. Well done DR.
Toast

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rachel takes a job travelling to see the crafts made in Oman. She comes across several problems, not just with her 'fixer' who is supposed to make things run smoothly.
There are three main female characters- Rachel, Ariana the fixer and Miza who is a Zanzibar wife. Their lives become entwined when they all find themselves in Oman at the same time . There are issues they are all trying to resolve in their personal and working lives.
Rachel's photographic assignments keep being foiled and she is very frustrated and I will admit that I was looking forward to the beautiful descriptive prose from Deborah and at times I felt a little disappointed that the novel didn't go the way I was expecting.
There is an element of superstition, which is very interesting to read from all the characters perspective.
This was my first read of 2018 and it ticked the box for a few of my reading challenges- Around the world in 80 days and the A-Z

[Mandy Partridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deborah Rodriguez has written a combination adventure, romance and magic realism story with The Zanzibar Wife.
American war photographer Rachel has flown to Oman to cover a soft story about arts and crafts, as she comes to terms with her PTSD.
Ariana is a British Indian, living in Dubai, balancing a career with a search for a second husband.
Miza is the Zanzibar wife, the second wife to Tariq, who lives in Oman, and had separated his wives in the two countries. But Miza's pregnancy brings her to Oman, for the better medical services, and throws her in front of the Omani wife, Maryam, who hates her.
Tariq's disappearance after a traffic accident brings the women together, and they seek magical help in the most haunted town in Oman, full of jinns and secrets.
Romance is not my thing, but I enjoyed the well described places and the magic.

[Kirstie · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of a 3.5. I found myself speed reading a bit just to finish it

It’s beautifully written but this chick lit feel just doesn’t rock my world BUT I could see why bother would enjoy it
It was interesting the cultural side of this set in Oman

[Barbara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed Deborah Rodriguez's original autobiographic tale of setting up a beauty school in Kabul but it seems that her books get sillier with each new one. The Zanzibar Wife is poor chick-lit shoe-horned into a potentially interesting setting that doesn't deliver at all well.

Three women meet in Oman. Rachel is a war photographer who has become completely desensitised to suffering and is taking a 'time out' to go and do a travel piece on Omani handicrafts. Ariana is a flaky British-born Pakistani divorcee who has been working in a Dubai bank and finds herself filling in as a 'fixer' for Rachel. And the third woman is Miza, the Zanzibar Wife of the title, the heavily pregnant wife of a man in hospital in a coma.

So why wouldn't these three just happen to bump into each other and become friends? Oh, let me count the ways......no maybe not. Each in her way is so cheaply stereotypical as to be almost laughable.

Let's go back to that title. The Zanzibar Wife. Miza's husband is himself a Zanzibari, married off to a haughty well-to-do first wife and living in Oman (readers may not be aware of the historic links between Oman and Zanzibar - basically the Omanis used Zanzibar as a hub for their slave trade). His first wife lives with him in Oman, and Miza's role is to live with him as the second wife (the 'love' wife if you like) in their homeland.

Almost every scenario in this book is implausible or uninteresting. But the greatest crime against literature and the readers' intelligence is the ludicrous 'magical' plot twist designed to get Rachel to go to Zanzibar. Dreams and visions are one thing but photographic 'evidence' of magic is just silly. If you can't get your character to go to where you need her to be without resorting to ridiculous 'magic' plot lines, then you've truly lost the plot as a writer. Rodriguez really did 'jump the shark' on that one and lost any respect I might have had for her up to that point.

There's the potential for an interesting story in here but it needs fewer 'cardboard cut-out' character cliches and a proper reason for people to be where they are and to go where they go. This one fails badly and I don't think I'll be giving the author another chance.

[Кремена Георгиева · Rating 3 out of 5]

Не успях да разбера посланието на тази книга. Имаме три жени – Миза, Ариана и Рейчъл - тотално различни във всеки аспект на думата. Нямат никакви допирни точки, но въпреки това автора решава да ги свържи в една обща история.
Защо заглавието е „Занзибарската съпруга“? Миза е занзибарската съпруга в случая, но ироничното е точно нея опознавам най-малко. Тя е най-слабо изградения образ, присъства най-малко и остава някак встрани.
Като цяло всички герои не са особено добре изградени. Остават някак далечни и неразбрани. Освен странната симбиоза на трите жени, присъства и щипка мистика. Меко казано странна мистика.
Не беше лоша за четене (макар Ариана през цялото време да ме дразнеше изключително много колко е празноглава), но се чудя за какво всъщност беше цялата работа!?

[storytime-reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was initially drawn to this book by the cover, and then when I learned it was about Oman I was incredibly excited because I absolutely adore Oman. From the beginning, I really enjoyed this book, and much of that was due to the interesting array of places traveled by the various characters, particularly places I’d been to, such as Oman and Dubai. It always adds another level of interest when a book travels somewhere that you know. I really engaged with the descriptions of this area of the world based on my own experiences, and that allowed me to be more easily engrossed in the story.

Rodriguez has carefully constructed a narrative in which three very different women, with very different life experiences can interact in a realistic manner. The use of different chapter perspectives contribute to this, allowing the reader to truly understand the different points of view, particularly how these women’s pasts shape who they are and how they react to the world around them. All three of these women are well developed and complicated–they have a fascinating range of emotions and understandings that demonstrate who they really are, and Rodriguez brilliantly displays both their strengths and flaws.

However, the further I got in, the more frustrated I became with the characters. Whilst all of the women are three dimensional, I struggled to relate to many of their reactions. It became very difficult when their flaws ended up demonstrating a huge clash of cultures and faith, with very little understanding for each other and their different beliefs in many scenes. Of course, this does change as the woman come to truly try to understand each other’s perspectives and feelings by the end of the novel. Yet, I found it very frustrating that the initial reaction in many scenes was to be judgmental and take aim at the different perspectives of others. Rachel in particular was incredibly rude and impatient for much of the novel, and there was a real lack of consideration for the feelings of others.

I did love how the characters came together by the end of the novel, though I believe that it would have been much more effective and emotional if this journey occurred over a greater period of time, rather than being compressed into only a few chapters at the end. Unfortunately, the book was slow paced and though I enjoyed the storyline, it felt that the novel took its time to focus on the magic of Oman–perhaps only the last quarter of the novel actually properly dealt with this.

Therefore, whilst I enjoyed the initial storyline and background of The Zanzibar Wife, it was difficult to properly appreciate the characters and their attitudes. The novel was also too slow paced, leaving the magic as more of an afterthought, rather than a focal point of the novel.

[Shriya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Deborah's writing and her coffee shop of Kabul still remains in my ultimate favourites list.
I enjoyed the descriptive narrative of Oman and Dubai, the scene setting is excellent but for some reason I wasn't hooked like her previous books.

[Sarah Waters · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved the setting. Too bad the plot and character development let the rest of book down.

[Yvonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one and was intrigued reading about Oman and Zanzibar.

[Miss P · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Disappointing, but it gets better towards the end

[Lou Frost · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book, really allows you to delve into another culture and understand different world views better.

[Nicole Kalinowska · Rating 3 out of 5]

Underwhelming and disappointing.

The Zanzibar Wife looked promising and enticing, but it just fell short of my expectations.

1. There just wasn’t enough of the Zanzibar wife. Sure, the plot kind of, loosely, centres around her, and this is all revealed at the end. But the reveal and the tying-loose-ends wasn’t as exciting as I’d hoped. We are told a lot about Miza and her situation. But that’s the problem. We are told it. I didn’t feel close to her character and she felt flat and 2D.

2. There was nothing amazing about any of the characters to be honest. I didn’t have very strong opinions about them, whether I liked or disliked them. They were just there. They were neither likeable nor unlikeable and I didn’t feel invested in any of their stories. There was no sense of a deep reader-character relationships.

3. The relationships between the characters weren’t convincing. Again, we are told about the chemistry between Hani and Ariana, but we aren’t shown it, we don’t feel it, and it wasn’t convincing or moving. I didn’t find myself routing for them, or caring.

4. The last seven chapters or so felt so rushed. Rachel’s brief trip to Zanzibar could have been so much more exciting or suspenseful than it was, but read as though the author wanted to hurry up and finish to the book.

5. There was so much potential to make magical realism more prominent - with the jinn, the haunted and dark-magic-filled Bahla, and Bi-Zena and the goat. It felt half-hearted, so what was there wasn’t enough and let down the ending. Had magical realism been more prominent in the story, there would have been room for some more darkness and suspense, obstacles for the characters to overcome, and the ending may have been stronger and more satisfying. The half-heartedness weakened the plot and the writing for me.

6. A lot of reviews agree that this book tries too hard to be a chick-flick and fails. Had the characters had more depth to them, less simply stating of relationships between characters, and some stronger and more consistent elements of magical realism, I don’t think this would have been a problem. There would have been more tension and action, and more investment in the characters that maybe we wouldn’t read the book as trying to be a chick flick.

I wanted to enjoy The Zanzibar Wife more than I did, but I felt let down. It was still an enjoyable read, just disappointing, unfortunately.

[Vanshika Gupta · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book as obviously it belongs to my favorite genre "Historical Fiction" . Book is about three women , all from different parts of the world ( US, Dubai and Zanzibar) exploring a new country 'Oman' together. All three were struggling within themselves and somehow fate bought them together when one of them got a photography assignment in Oman.

💫💫Honestly the book picked up pretty great in the start, I learnt alot about Oman when the girls started to travel along with managing their own personal struggles. Oman's picturesque beauty comprising of Al Hazar mountains, Wahiba sands, countless wadis and Bahla ( the city of magic). Also about their culture , how the author described that Omanis are the most soft spoken and hospitable community in middle east ( honestly, they greet each other by touching noses) . 💫💫

🤎🤎 As one of the protagonist was the Zanzibar wife , we get to know a great deal about it's history with Oman. How zanzibar ( Tanzania, Africa) is the ancestral home of many Omanis, as it fell under Omanis control in 1698. How "hakuna matata" is a Swahili phrase and they use it in their day to day language.🤎🤎

🖤🖤 But when the story started rotating to and fro from zanzibar to Oman , it brought in many superstitious and paranormal angles which was not easy to believe and turned the book from realistic fiction to magical genre.
But despite of the magical angle, the book ended with a happy ending, was a very easy read and it will leave its imprint on you. 🖤🖤

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, I loved the interaction between the three women and how it all wove together so well.

[Shamsa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rachel an American 🇺🇸 photographer who covers global stories of serious events from Afghanistan to Darfur and Tahrir square. She found her self in a slump after a tragic incident in Paris. As a way to put her back to work her friend offers her an assignment in Oman 🇴🇲.
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Her fixer Ariana a British 🇬🇧 young divorcé accompanied Rachel in Oman and they met a series of surprising events. Hani who surprised Ariana by being different than every man she has met. Miza, “the Zanzibar wife” 🇹🇿 who was in Oman to give birth while leaving a troubled younger sister in Zanzibar.
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How all of these ladies had to meet and solve their individual issues in a very strange way was interesting.
However what I wished to know more was what happend later on with Maryam ? Miza’s birth? If we had seen a better ending for her with Tariq that would be nice! Miza seemed to have been pregnant through out the whole book despite the fact that she is the “title”
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I picked up this book after my numerous visits to the beautiful Zanzibar and the lack of book setting in that place. It was nice to see that someone as great as Deborah Rodriguez did that! Since that place is so magical and can inspire many stories !
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The book highlights several topics such as faith, spiritual beliefs and jinn (ghost) stories, marriage and family values.
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Great book 3/5 stars ❤️!

[Madhulika Liddle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Miza is the ‘Zanzibar wife’, a woman from Zanzibar who marries her childhood sweetheart, the wealthy Omani Tariq. But Tariq already has a nasty, gold-digger wife named Maryam, who cannot stomach the idea of Tariq sharing his wealth with another—let alone the possibility of Miza’s giving him the heir Maryam hasn’t so far conceived.

Then there’s the Pakistani-British woman, Ariana, who lives in Dubai and comes to Oman accompanying the American photojournalist Rachel. Rachel, having chucked up her work as a photographer in conflict zones, has taken on an assignment to showcase the crafts of Oman. Rachel, Ariana, and Miza: three very different women whose paths cross in Oman.

I liked the first half of The Zanzibar Wife a lot, when Ariana, Rachel and Miza were being introduced, their characters set up. Once the action moved to Bahla, it began to get a little weird. Weird, as in the sense that two styles of story-telling came into conflict: the very real world it had portrayed so far, and then a world of magic. If magical realism had been part of the story since the very beginning, I would not have minded this; but the sudden introduction of magic into a story that had seemed, till then, utterly real and prosaic, didn’t work for me.

But because the characters were interesting (Ariana, especially, was endearing), this still gets three stars from me. And because it gave me a glimpse of Oman so enticing, it made me add it to my bucket list, in particular Bahla, which I hadn’t known about.

[Anjali · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm disappointed; the story did not match what I thought it would from the description. It seemed like the story would involve magic (the tagline being 'with a little magic, anything is possible) - however, it felt like way too many religious sermons were put into characters' conversations, almost forced, that I didn't like.
And talking about characters, they all felt like caricatures and one-sided, and the conversation 'starters' seemed so similar. It'd be like "...so, you love your dad" or "...so you've travelled a lot". Like why were they all talking the same way?? And the switch from focus on religion to spirituality was such a weird turn! Wasn't my cup of tea - but I will say, I loved how the author's writing style was and how colourful her descriptions were. That was fun

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy Deborah Rodriguez's books and the others I have read were based on her life while this is a novel which she did extensive research for. I love her characters which she does admit are loosely based on real people sh knows which is why they are so believable.

It is an interesting story and the descriptions of the places really come to life. this is an easy holiday read and won't change the world by its existence but it is enjoyable none the less. This one is set in Oman and Zanzibar and while I have not been to Zanzibar but I have been to Oman and her descriptions of the Souk brought back happy memories for me.

[Jenks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I felt this book was slow to start. I am not a huge fan of this genre and if I’m totally honest ... it was the pretty cover that had me pick it up. The blurb did it no justice ...once a quarter of the way through I could not put it down.
The characters were real , relatable and you were buckled in for their journey.
I won’t give any thing away...but as a Muslim it was fascinating to read from a non Muslim writer about jinn. Very well written.
Pick it up and give it a go! I want to know what other people think about this one ....

[Jade Maree · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a bit worried going in to this. There seem to be a lot of reviews saying that it is not as good as Coffee Shop. I was pleasantly surprised. I like this book and enjoyed reading it. I was hooked at the beginning - maybe not so much the end - I wish it was a bit longer.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book club read which I am looking forward to discuss. There were lots of holes in the plot and unexplained events in the characters lives but if 'you just went with it' it was a fast paced enjoyable read.

[Hristina Lazhovska · Rating 4 out of 5]

Не лоша книга, но някак си не успя да ме завладее! Обичам да чета книги за културата , мистиката и изобщо за далечни дестинации, но все не ми беше достатъчно нещо! А така ми се искаше да я харесам много!

[Keerthi Bettadapura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sadly this book didn't capture me as much as I was hoping. I didn't care much about the characters, and there were many times that it felt like I was reading an assignment where the student is trying to meet the word count.

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

DR is an amazing story teller! Her research of and immersion into the region, culture, and people she is writing about really makes an impact on her stories and once you start one of her book you won't be able to put it down!

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 a thoughtful + enjoyable light read, won’t disappoint readers of previous Rodriguez books.

[Natalie Dixon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t have very high expectations for this book so I’d say it was better than I thought! The plot was iffy but the actual information describing Oman and customs and stuff seemed pretty solid!

[Mrs Louise Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love reading Deborah Rodriguez novels, so interesting to learn of different cultures and places all tied up in wonderful storytelling

[Eva Robey · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 good holiday read