Blog tour: Daughters of the Nile

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Welcome to the blog tour for Daughters of the Nile by Zahra Barri!

More about the book…

Paris, 1940. The course of Fatiha Bin-Khalid’s life is changed forever when she befriends the Muslim feminist Doria Shafik. But after returning to Egypt and dedicating years to the fight for women’s rights, she struggles to reconcile her political ideals with the realities of motherhood.

Cairo, 1966. After being publicly shamed when her relationship with a bisexual boyfriend is revealed, Fatiha’s daughter is faced with an impossible decision. Should Yasminah accept a life she didn’t choose, or will she leave her home and country in pursuit of independence?

Bristol, 2011. British-born Nadia is battling with an identity crisis and a severe case of herpes. Feeling unfulfilled (and after a particularly disastrous one-night stand), she moves in with her old-fashioned Aunt Yasminah and realises that she must discover her purpose in the modern world before it’s too late.

Following the lives of three women from the Bin-Khalid family, Daughters of the Nile is an original and darkly funny novel that examines the enduring strength of female bonds. These women are no strangers to adversity, but they must learn from the past and relearn shame and shamelessness to radically change their futures.

More about the author…

Egyptian/Irish writer and stand -up comedian, Zahra grew up in Saudi Arabia, attending both Muslim and Catholic schools, which gives her writing a unique perspective.

She has featured on Channel 4's Only Jokes a Muslim Can Tell, BBC Period Dramas, BBC Radio and BBC Asian Network. In 2020 she won Runner Up in the Comedy Women in Print Unpublished prize 2020.

She is now doing a PhD exploring the Muslim woman in literature and has recently won the Unbound Firsts 2024 competition.

Her novel Daughters of the Nile will be published with Unbound in June 2024.

Daughters of the Nile is an Unbound Firsts book, an Unbound initiative for debut writers of colour.

My impressions…

I am not overly familiar with Egyptian culture and modern history, so I was delighted to be able to learn something new, like the work of the Muslim feminist Doria Shafik, while being utterly engrossed in the lives of these three fictional women.

Three different women from the same family with three different lives but the same drive for independence and resilience. Their stories - at times amusing and at times emotional – make for a great read, which I highly recommend.

Described by the publisher as a ‘bold multi-generational debut novel exploring themes of queerness, revolution and Islamic sisterhood’, this is a debut not to be missed. 

Three words to describe it. Modern. Important. Feminist.

Do I like the cover? Yes, it’s as bold as the novel itself.

Have I read any other books by the same author? No, this is an incredible debut novel.

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