Fencing with the King, Diana AbuJaber
Fencing with the King, Diana AbuJaber
9 Rating(s)
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
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Fencing with the King
A Novel

Author: Diana Abu-Jaber

Narrator: Rasha Zamamiri

Unabridged: 11 hr 7 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/15/2022

Synopsis

A mesmerizing breakthrough novel of family myths and inheritances by the award-winning author of Crescent. Featuring a heartfelt author's note read by the author herself.

Amani is hooked on a mystery―a poem on airmail paper that slips out of one of her father’s books. It seems to have been written by her grandmother, a refugee who arrived in Jordan during the First World War. Soon the perfect occasion to investigate arises: her Uncle Hafez, an advisor to the King of Jordan, invites her father to celebrate the king’s sixtieth birthday―and to fence with the king, as in their youth. Her father has avoided returning to his homeland for decades, but Amani persuades him to come with her. Uncle Hafez will make their time in Jordan complicated―and dangerous―after Amani discovers a missing relative and is launched into a journey of loss, history, and, eventually, a fight for her own life.

Fencing with the King masterfully draws on King Lear and Arthurian fable to explore the power of inheritance, the trauma of displacement, and whether we can release the past to build a future.

About Diana Abu-Jaber

Diana Abu-Jaber is the author of Origin, Crescent, The Language of Baklava, and Arabian Jazz. She has won the PEN Center USA Award for Literary Fiction, the Oregon Book Award, and other prizes. Her writing appears in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Slate, Ms., Gourmet, Salon, and Vogue, and she is frequently featured on National Public Radio.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Emily on July 06, 2022

A shadowy novel of corruption, greed, deception, and self discovery amidst a royal birthday celebration. Immersive and in depth on the political and cultural nuances of Jordan over the last few decades, the most compelling aspect of this story is the parallel between Amani and Natalia. The struggles......more

Goodreads review by Patricia on June 08, 2022

This was a little hard to read in the beginning. Lots of political stuff about Jordan which I've never known much about except for hearing it on the news. Was very interesting learning this. The story was good, especially the part about the niece, Amani. She was a wonderful character so full of life......more

Goodreads review by Nidhi on March 28, 2022

Diana’s newly released novel was a fast read for me. I was invited to a book club, where we all got a chance to meet the wonderful author, and learned that this particular story is based on her experiences re-visiting Jordan, and figure out her bearings. There are so many complex characters which de......more

Goodreads review by Mary on November 25, 2022

I saw the gorgeous cover of Fencing with the King by Diana Abu-Jaber and adding to that the fact that the synopsis mentioned a mystery and I knew I wanted to read it. I love books that talk about family history and other cultures, and even though I don't know a single thing about fencing, that aspec......more

Goodreads review by Ann on April 11, 2022

This novel provides an interesting view of life in Jordan at the time of the reign of King Hussein and Queen Noor. We follow an American young woman and her Jordanian father (who has lived in the US for over 30 years) as they return to Jordan to visit family and participate in a fencing event which......more

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