Brooklyn Heights

A novel of displacement and discovery from one of Egypt's most exciting new voices.

Hend, an Arabic teacher and would-be writer in her late thirties, emigrates to the United States from Cairo with her eight-year-old son after the painful break-up of her marriage. She arrives in Brooklyn during the presidential elections of 2008. She dreams of change, self-fulfillment and the possibility of love and becomes involved in the lives of other immigrant women in her community. Through their shared experiences Hend begins an odyssey of self-discovery.

Brooklyn Heights presents the relationship between East and West in a wholly original way. Through her compassionate and skilled portraits of individuals living in the margins, and the startling and vivid use of Hend's memories, Miral al-Tahawy's novel shines a dazzling light on the immigrant experience.