Celestial Bodies

Despite my hit-and-miss relationship (mostly misses) with Booker prize winners, I really wanted to love Celestial Bodies. It's the first Omani authored novel I have read and its focus on the changes in women's lives across an extended period of time appealed to me. I think Alharthi includes three generations of women although I did struggle to maintain a good sense of how the characters were linked and in which eras they belonged because of how the story jumps around. If you prefer a linear narrative, this probably won't be the best book choice for you!

Alharthi touches on several aspects of Oman's turbulent past including colonialism, slavery, religious wars and emigration. Despite it's small village setting though, Celestial Bodies manages to feel as though it speaks for the whole country rather than a single community. I enjoyed that this is very much a book about Omani women and I didn't get any sense that it was written with an eye to Western audiences so it felt authentic throughout. Moments such as Masouda's isolation reminded me of The Yellow Wallpaper, but Celestial Bodies doesn't bemoan women's place in Omani society. Instead I felt Alharthi placed her characters simply before readers in order to show us their experiences and expectations.

I did love Alharthi's rich poetic prose. Even in translation I could appreciate certain beautifully composed sentences and imagine the original Arabic must be even more satisfying. I found myself becoming immersed in chapters, particularly those centred around Mayya, Khawla or Azzan, but didn't like abruptly being thrust into a different life or era by the ensuing chapter. At times I felt almost as though Celestial Bodies was a short story collection. Of course the characters do eventually all connect and, by the end of the book, I could envisage the family's history but, in order to fully enjoy this story, I wanted a stronger narrative flow.