Tower of Dreams: A Novel

by Kathryn K. Abdul-Baki

216 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1995

About the author

Kathryn Abdul-baki was born in Washington DC to an Arab father and an American mother. She grew up in Iran, Kuwait, Beirut, and Jerusalem, where she attended Arabic, British, and American schools. She attended the American University of Beirut, Lebanon, has a BA in journalism from George Washington University in Washington DC, and an MA in creative writing from George Mason University, Virginia. She has published four books of fiction, some of which have been taught at universities in multicultural literature, women’s studies, and Arab studies departments, and is the recipient of the Mary Roberts Rinehart award for short fiction. Abdul-baki has three grown children and currently resides with her husband in McLean, Virginia.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set in Kuwait in the late forties to 1956, the story is told in alternately by two non-Kuwaiti friends, a Lebanese girl and a girl whose father is an Arab, her mother an American. Abdul-Baki gives vivid descriptions of the land and of the diverse kinds of people living there, mercifully free of the cliches of American media. I particularly appreciated the account of the slow, one step forward one step back nature of a girl's emerging sexuality, a subject that doesn't really get treated much or with much accuracy or sensitivity.

[Bridget · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast-moving story after a slightly slow and confusing start. The last 3/4 of the book was excellent. Very accurate descriptions of growing up female in Kuwait as an expat. Subtle yet precise picture of the struggle between "locals" and expats.

[Lindsay Jalbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book in college for a global issues in literature class that I was takin and really loved it. It's been awhile since I have read it though and probably need to read it again.