Ten weeks beside the river - Abdullah Al-Wasali

Ten Weeks by the River Author: Abdullah Al-Wasali Translation has long been a way for peoples to open up to the culture of others with its various components, but it can also be a path for an individual to an internal journey into their authentic culture to understand roots that grew far from it. Such is the case of Mira, the heroine of the novel, an Arab-origin girl born in America. Translation cast her into deeper unknowns within a small community, filled with discord, among things and counterparts, and the most violent forms of discord erupted among Arab writers from social complexes and political problems carried by the Arab Spring. Questions about the harsh reality and contradictory attitudes towards the bleak political situation, terrorism, women's rights... and mutual accusations that only increased the siblings' discord. Thus, Mira stopped working on translation and, in her journey, she delves into the history of the Arab world and the Middle East in particular, seeking to immerse herself in the culture of the writers to understand the spirits of the creators of the texts she intends to translate and to lessen the degree of betrayal. She finds herself a messenger of peace whose shores will not be spared from the violence of change. Rida Al-Hosni