Salih's she-camel

The book overview is the fifth work of Kuwaiti novelist Saud Al-Sanousi, published in August 2019 by Dar Al-Arabi for Science and Publishing in Beirut. The novel takes the desert of Kuwait as a geographical location in the early twentieth century, before the establishment of the state, coinciding with the Battle of Safir. The story: The tribe refuses the marriage of "Salha, daughter of her father," to her cousin Dakhil bin Asmar, and forces her to marry her cousin Saleh, son of the Sheikh of Al-Mahrous tribe. News reaches Salha that her cousin has left the desert to the Emirate of Kuwait after being prevented from marrying her, to settle in the emirate, which is hostile to his tribe, under a new name, determined to start a new life in the coastal town, working in sheep herding. In spring 1901, Saleh Al-Mahrous leaves his wife and his cousin Salha in the desert, accompanied by her infant son and her she-camel "Wadha," to join the ranks of the Hajj patrol among the men of Kuwait in their raid on the Emirate of Hail. He rides his camel "Sari" to the area of Safir, where the conflict and battle take place between the cousin's tribe and the cousin himself. News of defeat reaches Saleh Al-Mahrous, that her husband is gravely injured in the Emirate of Kuwait in the east, where her cousin lives. The girl intends to follow the sun, the direction of Kuwait, to travel to the emirate, hoping to meet her beloved and to meet her she-camel "Wadha" with her husband's camel "Sari." The girl’s journey with her infant continues in the desert on the back of the she-camel, in a rainy spring whose clouds obscure the sun so that Salha's face does not reach her destination in the east. Between the warning of the sun and the glad tidings of rain, the girl continues to pursue her dream. This novel, inspired by the vast spaces of the desert and belonging within the borders of Kuwait and its climates, features characters who truly lived in the desert called "Salha's Desert." Quotes: "Whoever carries yesterday on his back sinks his feet into today and does not reach tomorrow." "Only alienation gives you nostalgia for everything you hate in the lands you long for." "Camel’s temperaments are as tough as our lives; loyal if loved, but moody, and insults dig into its heart, and it does not forgive those who wrong it. Saleh is the best one to know that." Publisher: Dar Al-Arabi for Science and Publishing Author: Saud Al-Sanousi Number of pages: 173