That Other Me: A Novel

I found it VERY difficult at first, to keep the characters straight. I realized it’s a book one must read without any interruptions, otherwise confusion of who each one is, get muddled.

Full of raw insight into the realities of Emirates and Egyptians, this book presents the complexities of its characters with strength and emotion. Told in third person, it gives insight to the segregated genders of Emirates and the quick journey from traditions to riches. It makes you angry at one Emirate who uses power to tilt his world, and then makes you applaud his secret daughter who boldly steps onto the stage for all to see and hear. Each time I opened this book, I embarked upon an exciting roller coaster that I wanted to ride again and again. Well done!

Majed is the head of an Emirati family. He’s quite an unlikeable, angry fellow, full of himself and his power over others. Dalal is the daughter of his second secret marriage and has been abandoned by her father. Her dream is to become a famous singer, which is completely against her father’s wishes. Even though her father has abandoned her, he holds control over her as he attempts to stop what he feels will bring shame and embarrassment to the family. Mariam is Majed’s niece, the daughter of Majed’s dead brother. Majed sends Mariam to dental school, mostly due to guilt because of his cheating his brother out of his business. Both of these young women are greatly restricted in their efforts to lead their own lives by Majed and the Emirati society.Mariam lives at a university in Cairo, while Dalal lives in the poor section of Cairo so you get a look at the two types of worlds. While it’s obvious why Majed would be an unlikeable character, I couldn’t like Dalal either. She seemed so immature and only cares about becoming a star. I found Dalal and her mother to be quite annoying. Mariam is much easier to like as she struggles to become a dentist, feeling that was the only way she could escape her rigid family and the Emirati society.This book has been compared to “The Kite Runner” but I didn’t think it had any of the emotional pull of “The Kite Runner”. It was basically a family drama made a bit different by its setting in an Arab culture.This book was given to me by the publisher in return for an honest review.

This book is a very readable story that offered a very unique, inside look at Emirati society. The author has an excellent ability for writing descriptive scenes. The story centers on the Naseemy family of Dubai and is told from 3 perspectives that of, Majed, the patriarch, Mariam his niece (daughter of his brother) and Dalal his "secret" daughter. Without Majed's knowledge, Mariam & Dalal become friends in school. To provide a little background, Majed married Dalal's mother Zorah without telling his current wife, Aisha. The secret gets out when Dalal is a teen and Majed decides to divorce Zorah due to pressure from his family. Mariam is a quiet, studious girl. Her father, Majed's brother died when she was a teen and she has been taken care of by Majed and his family. Dalal is of course the black sheep, especially since she entered an "Idol" style singing contest and came in second. The story starts in Cairo where Mariam is studying to be a dentist and Dalal has gone with her mom, Zorah, to try and pursue her singing career. Both girls fall in love with the same boy, but neither knows. Meanwhile back in Dubai, Majed is suffering from guilt and nightmares about his brother's death. His misery causes him to lose his temper and everyone in his family tries to avoid him, which makes him more mad, because he feels they are not respecting him. He tries to stop Dalal's path to fame, but he is surprised by the show of force Dalal and her mother present to him. He then decides Mariam's studies should be halted and she should be called home to marry the man Majed chooses. That too goes horribly wrong. The more he tries to exert his authority the worse things get. The author does a great job of building up to the climax. The reader will certainly learn a lot about the family dynamic in the Middle East.

Original post can be found on my blog at [...]A look into family structure in the Arab world, I felt transported to Cairo and Dubai. The culture, language, lifestyle, all painted eloquently to provide the backdrop for familial engagements and how it all intertwines. I consumed the entirety of this book in one weekend, feeling empowered to stand up to those who may treat me unfairly or hold me back from my dreams. Being from a supportive family, I cannot imagine what it could be like for Dalal and Mariam, being constantly directed into what is expected of them by the head of the household. Having to act a certain way, blend into the family despite unique talents and qualities, andDon't get me wrong, Dalal is quite bold and thinks too highly of herself as her career starts to take off in the entertainment world and Mariam playing cat and mouse with a young man in her school. However, I find their dedication and spirit encouraging. To be honest I have struggled with accepting what's said to me without complaint, yet seeing how these young women defied their fatherly figure, inspires me to fight back (bit with more tact and maturity then what Dalal and Mariam express ;) ).The pace between each character's first person narrative every chapter was pretty quick so sometimes it would be challenging to figure out where the story picks back up again and/or when it picks up where the last chapter ends and their perspective is tagged in. I also felt that towards the end, there was a quite a bit of a jump in time (3 years), without a preface for doing so - I feel as if it was slightly rushed and would be interested to see what the parts Gargash summarized quickly would look like spelled out in more detail.Read That Other Me if you like the themes of:RebellingFamily tiesAuthority/PatriarchyDeterminationFame/Fortune