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    Finding Nouf
    Finding Nouf
    Finding Nouf
    Audiobook11 hours

    Finding Nouf

    Written by Zoë Ferraris

    Narrated by Pete Bradbury

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    Zoe Ferraris' debut novel is hailed as a startling, richly textured work of the highest literary merit. Finding Nouf, set in Saudi Arabia, features desert guide Nayir al-Sharqi, who is hired by wealthy friends to find their missing daughter. When the girl turns up dead, apparently drowned in a flash flood in the desert, Nayir suspects that all is not as it seems. And as he looks into her death, he develops an uncomfortable partnership with a female technician at the local coroner's office.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateJan 9, 2009
    ISBN9781436185271

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    Reviews for Finding Nouf

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    • 4/5
      Zoe Ferraris's debut of Finding Nouf offers an unprecedented window into Saudi Arabia and the lives of men and women there. Nouf is a rich, protected teenage girl in one of the most rigidly gender-segregated of Middle Eastern societies. Nouf goes missing, along with a truck and her favorite camel and Nayir al-Sharqi, a desert guide is hired to lead a search party. Nouf's body is discovered by anonymous desert travelers and the coroner's office determines that Nouf died not of dehydration but from drowning, and her family seems suspiciously uninterested in getting at the truth. Nayir takes it upon himself to find out what really happened to her.I found this book to be a page-turner and very well written. The characters were unforgettable and I look forward to reading the next book in the series. There were lots of twists and turns and the ending was a complete surprise. I highly recommend this book to those who like psychological suspense.
    • 5/5
      I really liked this book. The story pulled me in from the start. I enjoyed its cultural context and although I guessed the answer to paternity question, I was quite surprised by the unveiling of the murderer. It was a well paced story with developed characters.
    • 3/5
      This book was an interesting read because it takes you into the lives of men and women in Saudi Arabia. I didn't realize that women are so restricted in that country. Women are still expected to wear burkas in public and they have very few rights. I liked the characters and I would have rated the book higher except it needed better editing.
    • 4/5
      First novel about Katya a junior in the Jeddah coroner's office. Her reluctant partner in solving this crime of a murdered young women is Nayir, a desert tour guide who is very religious and is shy around women because a man should never look at a woman directly unless she has her burka in place. Good cultural mystery. Sequel is City of Veils.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this book on two levels. The murder mystery was engaging and kept my interest right up to the resolution. Even more fascinating to me was the opportunity to learn so much about the intricacies of living behind the veil in a Muslim society. The perspectives of Muslim men and women were represented, incorporating the strictly observant as well as those who question certain aspects of the rules. A good story and a cross-cultural experience all in one. Looking forward to the next in this new series.
    • 5/5
      like this book. Good mystery which offers an intimate view inside a closed society and shows the conflict between the traditional and the modern in Saudi Arabian culture.
    • 3/5
      Whilst the murder mystery plot is okay, the best part of the book is how the author brings the Saudi culture alive and gives both male and female perspectives about life in a devout Muslim country. Overall, however, I think "City of Veils," Ferraris' second book is a more engaging read.
    • 5/5
      Nayir ash-Sharqi is a Palestinian born and raised in Saudi Arabia. He's also a desert guide, often hired by the wealthy Shrawi family. They've asked him to help them track down the whereabouts of their 16-year-old daughter, Nouf, who went missing just three days before her wedding. He discovers her body in the desert, but so many things don't seem to make sense. When Nayir goes to the coroner to bring her home to her family, he is shocked to see the damage done to her corpse. He decides to continue his investigation into the cause of her death.

      One of the very few women allowed to work in the laboratory, technician, Katya Hijazi, suspects murder. Katya is connected to the case through her engagement to Nouf's older brother Othman, and she teams with Nayir to look into Nouf's death. Initially, Nayir is horrified by Katya's boldness, but he gradually comes to respect her intelligence and skill. As they continue their investigation, both Nayir and Katya must confront deeply held beliefs as they uncover long buried family secrets.

      What a fascinating book. It checks all the boxes of a typical forensic crime procedural but the Saudi Arabian setting and culture make it even better. I thought the author did a fantastic job of using a male protagonist but giving the reader a look into female characters who live and attempt to work in a society bound by strict Muslim law. I highly recommend this book to any mystery fan or anyone who wants an intriguing eye into a society that is still a mystery to most of us. I can't wait to read the next book in the series, City of Veils.
    • 4/5
      Such an interesting picture of the life of women in Saudi Arabia.
    • 5/5
      I read the second of Zoë Ferraris's Saudi mysteries, City of Veils, first and was completely transported. So much so that I felt the need to get my hands on this-- the first-- book. I'm glad I did. In three novels (Kingdom of Strangers is the third), Ferraris has opened the door and shed light on a landscape, a people, and a culture that are almost totally alien to Westerners. She does it with firsthand knowledge, psychological insight, tightly woven plots, and a writing style that can be downright poetic.Finding Nouf is a wonderful introduction to life in a Muslim country-- from dealing with the climate to many of its customs. One of the things I appreciated most from reading this book is being shown how the practice of Islam differs from country to country.The two main characters-- Katya Hijazi and Nayir al-Sharqi-- are interesting in and of themselves, but also as examples of traditional and non-traditional views. Nayir is very traditional in his beliefs, so when he first begins working with the non-traditional unmarried Katya, he spends most of his time being shocked and not knowing where to look. It's refreshing to watch him slowly-- very slowly-- begin to relax a bit around her. It's unusual for women to work in Saudi Arabia, and there are all sorts of restrictions on what types of jobs women may have and where they're able to work. Watching Katya navigate all these rules and regulations shows us how strong she is. How determined she is to succeed. She's just the sort of person who should be the coroner, but in order for that to happen, Katya is going to have to leave the country of her birth. Any Western woman who reads this book will have an eye-opening experience. She's undoubtedly going to feel incredulous and frustrated as well, especially when Katya's life is put in contrast to the lives of the extremely wealthy women of Nouf's family. (A large parking lot paved in marble? And that's before you enter the house!)I was blindsided by the identity of Nouf's killer, and that doesn't happen often. I loved this book, and recommend it highly. I also have good news: Ferraris is a writer who starts with a winner and just keeps improving. As much as I love Finding Nouf, City of Veils is even better. My advice? Read all three of Zoë Ferraris's excellent Saudi mysteries!
    • 4/5
      Excellent book, well written, likeable protagonist, interesting peek into Muslim practices and desert life/Beodouins.
    • 2/5
      other peoples reviews say it all , this was a very differnet sort of book, i did like it but it showed how limiting life is in Saudi
    • 4/5
      The setting is really what makes this mystery set in modern-day Saudi Arabia stand out--the cultural and religious restrictions placed upon the characters' behavior are fascinating to read about and really influence how the mystery is solved. The main characters Nayir and Katya are both extremely likable and have interesting life stories, and I'll definitely be picking up the later books in the series to see how their relationship matures over time. My only reservations about the book come from knowing that the author is an outsider writing about Saudi culture and wondering how accurate her portrayal is...
    • 4/5
      An interesting mystery, a fascinating look at a culture I'm unfamiliar with, and great characters. Nayir is complex, deeply moral, and honorable; Katya is intelligent and resourceful, working within society's limitations towards a full life. I definitely want to spend more time with these characters.
    • 3/5
      This is a difficult book to review because I had mixed reactions to different aspects of it. As pure storytelling I have one response but this is underpinned by a some doubts about the authenticity of the setting Ferraris has depicted and as these doubts, which might be unfounded, grew I think they affected my enjoyment of the story itself. As always though these are one person’s thoughts and if you don’t like them there are plenty of other opinions to be had.

      When 16-year old Nouf ash-Shrawi disappears from the home of her wealthy Saudi Arabian family her brother Othman asks his friend, Palestinian born Nayir ash-Sharqi, to look for her. Nayir, often mistaken for a Bedouin, is a desert guide and is only too willing to assist his friend. Unfortunately though Nouf is found dead in a desert Wadi and the autopsy reveals she has drowned. What remains to uncover then is whether she ran away or was kidnapped. Nayir takes on the role of the family’s investigator but when Othman’s fiancée Katya Hijazi, a lab technician who assisted with the autopsy, also becomes involved in the investigation Nayir struggles because, being a conservative Muslim, he is not allowed to talk to a single woman.

      From a pure storytelling standpoint this is an entertaining, if somewhat slow-moving novel, though probably not one for die hard crime fiction fans as it’s really not much of a mystery. However I think Ferraris’ intent is to paint a picture of the exotic location and society and the plot device of solving a possible murder was simply the most convenient way to achieve that end. It is hard to imagine for example too many circumstances other than the unexpected death of his friend’s young sister that would have prompted someone as conservative as Nayir to interact with a single woman in the way he ultimately interacts with Katya.

      Nayir, Katya, Othman and even Nouf to the extent we learn about her after her death are thoughtfully depicted character studies. The competing desire to conform to their society’s strict rules and their frustration at having to do so is shown from both a female and male perspective which is unusual and worth exploring. The kind of claustrophobia that some people, women in particular, must feel in these surroundings especially when they have had some exposure to different cultures including less strict Muslim ones, was very well shown and the highlight of the novel for me. In particular the sad resolution to the mystery was very fitting in that it demonstrated what people will do when there are such limited opportunities for them to change their circumstances.

      But on to my qualms about this book. Let me first state I am no expert on either Saudi Arabia or Islamic life but as I read the book I kept picking up on little details that didn’t sound right to me from my limited knowledge of the country and culture. Not only did this make me wonder what else might I be missing, but I couldn’t help but ponder if the book was doing less ‘lifting the veil on a culture we know little about’ and more reflecting back some entrenched stereotypes about that culture that westerners are largely comfortable with. If this is what’s happening I have no idea how much is to do with the author’s mistakes and how much might be due to publishers asking for changes that fit in better with the target audience’s existing knowledge but either way I didn’t fully buy into the story because of my perception of inaccuracy about some fairly fundamental details.

      At one point for example there is mention made of a pious young girl who came to visit the family for a short time but has stayed for 2 years and repeated the Haj (or Hajj)12 times. The Haj is an annual event that happens during specific dates on the Islamic calendar and I think that even if the young girl had visited Mecca at other times (unlikely in itself) it would be called an Umrah. Another language discrepancy that I picked up was that the women were referred to as wearing burqas whereas the face covering in Saudi Arabia is of a different kind and is known as a nikab. Even more troubling though than these kinds of inaccuracies were things that I felt served no purpose other than to perpetuate some good old-fashioned stereotypes. The one that immediately springs to mind is when Nayir is pondering whether two particular men might be gay which serves no purpose whatsoever other than an opportunity for readers to be told what horrible things happen to gay people in Saudi Arabia.

      I’m not for one moment suggesting that everything in the book is wrong or that I don’t have severe misgivings about the way women can be treated when the strictest interpretation of Islamic law is applied. I’m just not entirely convinced that this book, regardless of how good the story might be, adds much to the western understanding of the culture it is depicting.
    • 4/5
      This is a mystery set in contemporary Saudi Arabia. Nayir ash-Sharqi, a desert guide, is asked by his friend, Othman Shrawi, to find his sixteen-year-old sister, Nouf. After her body is discovered, Nayir sets out to find out how she died; he is assisted in his investigation by Katya Hijazi, a forensic technician who also happens to be Othman’s fiancée.The mystery is satisfactory, although the identity of one person guilty of a crime is very obvious early on because the implication of this person solves a relationship problem for Nayir and Katya. What is most interesting about the book is its glimpse into Saudi Arabia’s restrictive Muslim culture. Various aspects of Saudi culture are interwoven into the narrative: the importance of hospitality, attitudes towards Americans and immigrants, segregation of men and women, gender roles.For Nayir and Katya to work together, they must resort to deception and subterfuge which make Nayir uncomfortable. As a traditional conservative Muslim, he has rather rigid ideas about female modesty and proper behaviour. His interaction with Katya forces him to become more flexible as she provides commentary on the realities of life for women. Nayir argues that “’All the prescriptions for modesty and wearing the veil, for decent behavior and abstinence before marriage’” are intended to protect women, but Katya counters that “’those same prescriptions can sometimes cause the degradation people fear the most’” (219).In many ways, the main conflict is between tradition and desire. Nayir wants to marry, yet his religious beliefs restrict his contact with single women. Katya would like to be a wife and mother, but she also wants a career, so she seeks “’a husband who respects [her] work’” (217). It also becomes clear that Nouf also wanted the freedom to make choices: “’Yes, options . . . I think that’s what Nouf wanted’” (218). I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy mysteries in an exotic locale which is gradually made familiar.
    • 4/5
      Mysteries generally appeal to me because of their locales and cultures. Finding Nouf, set in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, opens up a world with which I have practically no familiarity and which I shall probably never visit. Zoe Ferraris is an American, but according to the book cover, she was married to a Saudi and moved to Saudi Arabia to become a part of an extended Saudi-Bedouin-Palestinian family (she now lives in the US).The plot involves the disappearance of Nouf Shrawi, the sixteen year old daughter of a wealthy family -- with a truck and a camel. A desert guide, the pious Nayir ash-Shariq, is hired to find out what happened to her. When she is found drowned in the desert, the body is turned over to the coroner, and a lab assistant in the women's division, Katya Hijazi, discovers information crucial to Nayir's investigation.Ferraris guides us through the labyrinths of modern Saudi life -- bounded and veiled in tradition and religion -- and the elaborate gender struggles it entails. Her descriptions of the desert, the dusty streets of Jeddah clogged with traffic, and the enclosed quarters of the Shawri women are highly evocative. This is the first in a series, and I've already ordered the second.
    • 4/5
      A murder takes place in this book but that’s not the main theme, as far as I can see. That title belongs to the subjugation of women in Saudi Arabia which, as I got further and further into the narrative, managed to make me fairly agitated (to say nothing of enlightened). Not surprisingly, the author, American Zoe Ferraris, spent only nine months in the country, getting to know her husband’s family, who had never welcomed an American into their home (and lives) before. After nine months she left the country and is now divorced. I honestly don’t see how any woman not raised in Saudi Arabia could ever adjust to the stringent conditions under which women there exist. And unfortunately for these women, they are only too aware of the differences between their lives and those of women living in the West because of illegal (but easily obtainable) DVDs representing ways of life they end up longing for. So I tried to view this book as a glimpse at a culture that I am totally unfamiliar with and a vehicle for learning.Nouf ash-Shawri is the sixteen year old daughter in a wealthy Saudi family and it appears that she has run away. After searching the desert area near her home, desert guide Nayir finds that her body has been found and she apparently died, in the desert, by drowning in a wadi filled with rainwater. Why would a girl from the privileged class run away and how did she drown? These are among the many questions that kind, gentle and deeply religious, Nayir feels compelled to find the answers to, even after her family accepts the idea of accidental drowning. To do so he must accept the help of a working woman audacious enough to bare her face in public, coroner’s lab worker Katya Hijazi. Nayir finds himself at a crossroads, highly desirous of female companionship, yet highly cautious in observing his religious beliefs which include never looking directly into a woman’s eyes or being seen in public with a woman who is not his wife, sister or daughter. The religious police are always on the lookout for offenders. A clash of cultures becomes obvious when an American is detected as one of a number of suspects, and Nayir visits his apartment in an American compound:”Inside the compound, the environment changed. These were mostly Saudi-style homes, bright stucco buildings with ornate shutters and flat roofs, but the gardens were strangely American, bursting with flowers he didn’t recognize. Americans lived here, as well as other Western workers who signed up for two, maybe three years of work in Saudi. Most of them came because the work was lucrative and completely tax-free; some companies even paid for their employees to fly back to America once or twice a year. There was a strong need for imported labor---a good number of Saudis were wealthy enough enough not to work, and, Nayir thought, they believed work was beneath them---but despite the necessity for American workers, he felt a twinge of resentment that they should come here and build their own little worlds, their own private compounds where they lived as if they were still in America.” (Page 136)As far as a mystery goes, this one is fairly typical in its construction and Ferraris does a good job of building suspense, but I was more impressed with her depiction of a culture with which I was unfamiliar. I think for this reason, it was difficult for her to construct complex characters. They seemed fairly one dimensional to me. But I was impressed by Nayir’s ability to grow and change in his way of adapting to a more independent female like Katya. This is the first in a series. I’m not sure whether I’ll continue but I did appreciate this one.
    • 5/5
      Gorgeously evocative novel - a gentle, sensitive portrayal of Islam and its meaning to individuals while enquiries are made to find who killed Nouf and why.
    • 4/5
      Insights into life in Saudi Arabia are more interesting than the mystery elements. But I'm the first to admit that this time I guess wrong on who-done-it. Characters and setting are intriguing. And my family is probably tired by now of hearing, "Did you know that in Saudi Arabia.....?"
    • 3/5
      As the book opens, Nayir, a desert guide, is searching the desert for his friend's 16-year-old sister Nouf. By the end of the chapter, we know that Nouf is dead. But "finding" her and understanding what happened to her takes a lot more detective work. In a culture where men and women who aren't related can't talk to each other without risking arrest and capital punishment, solving this mystery takes creativity. The author has lived in Saudi Arabia and her husband's family has a similar background to the book's protagonist. I wasn't sure I was going to like this book, as I'm not much of a mystery fan. It wasn't the mystery that kept me reading so much as the glimpse of a culture so alien to our own.
    • 4/5
      Great mystery set in Saudi Arabia. A 16-year-old girl from a wealthy & very religious Saudi family has gone missing just before her wedding. Her brother asks his friend Nayir to find her. Nayir is a devout Muslim & Saudi-Palestinian-semi-adopted-Bedouin desert guide, and when the girl is found drowned, he investigates the cause. Also investigating is Katya, a not-so-devout Saudi woman working at the medical examiner's office. It's the depiction of the culture and interactions between men and women that are really interesting here; the murder mystery is almost secondary. The story moves along quickly and is well paced. Recommended! It would get five stars except the resolution of the mystery feels somewhat improbable and not quite satisfying. Looks like it will be a series.
    • 4/5
      Well written detective novel with sensitive observations of life in Saudi Arabia.
    • 5/5
      A sixteen year old girl from a wealthy family in Saudi Arabia goes missing in the desert and Nayir ash-Sharqui, a Palestinian desert guide and close friend of the family, is asked to try and find her. All that is found is her dead body, which points to murder. Nayir then begins to investigate why Nouf had run away and, in the process, uncovers many hidden secrets and a troubled family. An interesting part of this story was the depiction and seeming discussion about the role of women and their extreme segregation in Saudi Arabia. Nayir is a religious conservative who believes that the laws for wearing the burqa protect women, but he is also a thoughtful, kind man and is conflicted when he meets Katya who is working in the criminal investigation laboratory who feels very stifled by these laws. He is also aware of how these laws make it nearly impossible for a man like himself with no family ties in Saudi Arabia to meet a respectable young lady and marry. As a reader, the view into this very closed Islamic society was very intriguing to me, and I found myself drawn into the mystery and sympathetic towards the main characters. Reading this book was a highly rewarding experience, and it is one whose story and characters will stay with me for a long time.
    • 4/5
      E-book - WOW - I love this book!! The mystery part of it was really great but I enjoyed delving into a culture that I know very little about.
    • 5/5
      Fascinating.This was a fascinating read, particularly from the point of view of the interactions between Saudi Arabian men and women. Although based around a murder within the community, the who-done-it side of the narrative seemed secondary to the insights into such a closed society.Nayir is a desert guide, often mistaken as a Bedouin. He is asked by the family of the victim to escort a private detective into the area of the desert where the body of 16yr old Nouf was found.Katya, the fianceé of the victim's brother, is also working in the District Examiner's Office and she brings her professional expertise into solving the murder.Working together proves especially problematic for Nayir, as he is extremely devout and finds any contact with women, particularly unveiled, supremely uncomfortable. It is a wonder that anything is solved at all, when both parties withold information due to embarassment and the family is rich enough to persuade the District Govenor's Office that it was all an accident.A most unusual crime mystery that I would highly recommend. I have already borrowed the second book in the series (City of Veils) from the library and can't wait to get stuck in.
    • 4/5
      Night of the Mi'raj is quite a gripping murder mystery, and the bonus is it paints quite a vivid picture of Muslim culture and the tensions between families and genders as the traditional ways are forced to change by modern/Western values. It reminded me of Sweetness in the Belly by Camilla Gibb - another excellent book about Muslim culture, although this one is set in Ethiopia. Having lived in these countries both authors are able to really bring the culture alive.
    • 5/5
      It is not often that crime fiction readers get the chance to get right inside the skin of another society, but this is what I feel Zoe Ferraris does for us in THE NIGHT OF THE MI'RAJ.My guess is that I already have some understanding from practical experience of how Islamic society works, but the novel showed me much greater depth.The characters of Nayir and Katya are so well drawn. Nayir is a Palestinian often mistaken for a Bedouin. He has been employed by the family in the past as a desert guide, and this time to find out the truth about Nouf's disappearance. So he is not a policeman, not even a detective. Katya on the other hand is well qualified in forensic medicine but is a woman, trying to be "modern" in an Islamic world. The picture of each of them trying to bide by convention, Nayir because he wants to, Katya because she must, is carefully drawn.I've included the author's note about the novel's title because in this case I think I actually concur with its renaming to FINDING NOUF. The title THE NIGHT OF THE MI'RAJ really has little meaning for the non-Islamic reader unless you are prepared to do some research, although it would obviously be charged with significance for the Islamic one. So I think the Islamic reader would explore the meaning of that title in a way that I never would.On the other side of the coin though I have noted what the publisher says about this being a literary novel and coupled that with what the author says about Nayir's journey. I think I understand that Ferraris didn't see herself as primarily writing crime fiction. The investigation into the death of Nouf is really just a back drop to Nayir and Katya showing what it is like to be Islamic in the modern world. From that point of view alone the novel, whatever its title, is fascinating.
    • 4/5
      Fantastic novel of a missing girl who is betrothed to a young man in an arranged marriage, then found murdered. One of the best things about this novel is the wonderful detail having to do with the culture and contrast of Muslim traditions with the slow progression of modern thinking. I would love to read anything else by this author. Her writing style is superb.
    • 3/5
      Good read combing a murder mystery and cultural issues.