YOU EXIST TOO MUCH

Zehra Jane Naqvi has a youthful sounding voice, which is put to good use as she narrates this novel about a young, unnamed Palestinian woman. Naqvi embodies the confusion, irritation, and rage of the heroine while growing up in Palestine. Naqvi gives voice to the narrator's ruminations about the gender double standards she increasingly confronts in her conservative society. Listeners will appreciate the ease with which Arabic names, words, and phrases are delivered. Naqvi brings a lilting energy to a story that explores the taboo of queerness in an Islamic society. She creates a vivid auditory journey to match the one the heroine takes as she moves from her Palestinian village to the freedom of Brooklyn, and life beyond. M.R. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2020]