Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi

Book group 1 – Sept, 2020

Celestial Bodies, by the Omani author Jokha Alharthi, traces the lives of three sisters and three generations of their wealthy Omani family. It is about love and marriage,family relationships, and relationships between owners and slaves and how this is reflected in Omani Society as the country evolved and modernised.

The members of the Book group had a wide ranging discussion about Celestial bodies, but a number of the group commented as follows:

The book was an unsatisfactory, and at times, a confusing read.

This was due to the structure of the chapters alternating between one character, Abdallah, and other characters in the book. There were too many characters and names to remember. It was also felt that the author could have written more about Omani traditions. The majority felt that Celestial Bodies had sadly not lived up to their expectations.

Jane Duxbury