The healers

Author's name: Abbas Baydoun

Jalal returns to his pine village. He doesn't find his grandmother's house where he grew up as it was. The villagers broke into it and smashed its furniture, believing that its owner, Hajja Hadiya, was a friend of the jinn. Subhiya, the widow who lives nearby, visits Jalal to offer to clean the house. Their relationship develops into sensual touch. However, the memory of an old love is awakened within him after a phone call from Salma, his cousin. Rosette, the wife of his friend Adnan, also wants something from him. Suddenly, the villagers' mood changes toward Hajja Hadiya. She has performed many miracles from her grave, which has led them to declare her a saint and visit her shrine to receive blessings. However, this doesn't please the "People of the Path," because God did not send female prophets to humans, but rather prophets. This engaging novel tells the story of the conflict between innate religiosity and partisan religiosity in a southern village where residents sense spirits but ignore them. Longlisted for the 2015 Sheikh Zayed Book Award