17th out of 53 books
—
48 voters
Mosaic
Set against the bustling backdrop of New York City and the exotic splendor of Jordan, Mosaic is a story of love and betrayal, of a clash of cultures and traditions---and one woman's struggle to rebuild her life.
Like many working mothers, Dina Ahmed has become adept at juggling her family and her work. She's the owner of Mosaic, a thriving floral design business, and has be...more
Like many working mothers, Dina Ahmed has become adept at juggling her family and her work. She's the owner of Mosaic, a thriving floral design business, and has be...more
Hardcover, 320 pages
Published
October 1st 2004
by Forge Books
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BookList: Like her debut, Mirage (1995), Khashoggi’s second novel sculpts a broader understanding of Arab women’s lives, both in the Middle East and America. Dina Ahmed has it all, a happy family and flourishing floral-design business, but her world ruptures when she discovers that her husband, Karim, has kidnapped their eight-year-old twins from New York and returned with them to his homeland in Jordan. Dina enlists her good friends Sarah, a Jewish physician, and Emmeline, a “Creole Martha Stew...more
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Basically a story of love and betrayal as one woman fights for her children. What made this interesting for me was the clash of cultures and traditions as it was set in New York and Jordan. Dina and Karim Ahmedare are from Lebanese and Jordain backgrounds, living in New York they appeared on the surface to have a happy marriage combined with successful careers and a family life together. Or so it seemed to Dina until one day her life is turned upside down...more
Basically a story of love and betrayal as one woman fights for her children. What made this interesting for me was the clash of cultures and traditions as it was set in New York and Jordan. Dina and Karim Ahmedare are from Lebanese and Jordain backgrounds, living in New York they appeared on the surface to have a happy marriage combined with successful careers and a family life together. Or so it seemed to Dina until one day her life is turned upside down...more
The blurb above gives you a fairly good idea about the family-saga. This book depicts the problems that are faced by Dina and Karim who live in New York. About the time of their marriage, Karim is more modern and has the modern views we link, but as years pass, his Jordanian values and ideas of family become more and more prominent. Dina on the other hand, even being half Arab herself is born and brought up in US, giving her the culture and attitude that most people admire. She painfully juggles...more
I enjoyed this book, has similarities to Brick Lane. Easy read.
"Like many working mothers, Dina Ahmed has become adept at juggling her family and her work. She's the owner of Mosaic, a thriving floral design business, and has been blessed with success, beauty, and, most important, a happy family.
But when she returns home one day to discover that her six-year-old twins have vanished, Dina is forced to admit that her life and her marriage were not as perfect as she'd once believed. After many des...more
"Like many working mothers, Dina Ahmed has become adept at juggling her family and her work. She's the owner of Mosaic, a thriving floral design business, and has been blessed with success, beauty, and, most important, a happy family.
But when she returns home one day to discover that her six-year-old twins have vanished, Dina is forced to admit that her life and her marriage were not as perfect as she'd once believed. After many des...more
So I expected this book to be an updated, more "fair" (i.e. less biased, less prejudiced) version of the well-known "Not Without My Daughter" version of book. And to be fair, it is a better version. It's not as biased, not as prejudiced. I had high hopes, given that the author was born in Egypt and comes from a Saudi family. Unfortunately that didn't seem to matter in this book's case.
At the beginning of the book you get a short introduction to Karim in a neutral way. And then later, there are *...more
At the beginning of the book you get a short introduction to Karim in a neutral way. And then later, there are *...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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What I liked the most about this book is that the husband who spirited his children away to his parent's home in Jordan isn't portrayed as "bad", but rather as conflicted. You realize from the beginning that he loves his children and is struggling to find the best way to protect them as they grow up in a post-9-eleven world. Unfortunately, he feels compelled to make his decision alone which highlights the death of his marriage.
Sep 21, 2007
Desy Sutikno
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
women
Shelves:
fiction
it is absolutely a light romance reading for women. it didn't make me bored because I got a little bit of actions. the settings are in New York and Jordan not so long after 9/11. so you can guess now, there's something about Islam involved here. however, while it is a romance novel, the story actually tells about a broken household triggered by a man's ego and the suppressing situation for Muslims in U.S. after 9/11. while the wife of the broken household lives in misery after her twin children...more
I really like the way Soheir Khashoggi writes a novel. This story involves a couple who live in NYC with their family, The husband, Karim, originally from Jordan decides that living in the west is not in the best interest of his young children, and takes them back to Jordan, against the mothers consent.
While this a heart wrenching experience for any parent to live through, the reader cannot hate Karim totally for what he has done as he is not portrayed as evil, but just someone who is a product...more
While this a heart wrenching experience for any parent to live through, the reader cannot hate Karim totally for what he has done as he is not portrayed as evil, but just someone who is a product...more
Nov 20, 2011
Shammy
added it
Middle east story...touching
Tastefully written, the novel doesn't take sides and brings up a mother's anguish at being separated from her children against a father's conviction on raising his children as per his values. The taut storytelling keeps the suspense high throughout, and the plot twists are both surprising and realistic, as the author wisely avoids both thriller clichés and post-9/11 politics to engineer a series of believable, thought-provoking compromises.
Mosaic was just as good as her other book, Mirage. I love her writing and will definitely be checking out anything else she’s got out there.
This one focused not only on the Arab-American family in the center of things, but also on how friendships can be awesome when they are made up of people from different backgrounds. I am making it sound WAY too simple, but I don’t want to give anything away.
Another great book. Verdict: A
This one focused not only on the Arab-American family in the center of things, but also on how friendships can be awesome when they are made up of people from different backgrounds. I am making it sound WAY too simple, but I don’t want to give anything away.
Another great book. Verdict: A
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Soheir Khashoggi is a Saudi Arabian writer. A member of one of Saudi Arabia's most prominent families (her brother is the illustrious millionaire Adnan Khashoggi and her father was the royal physician), she was born in Alexandria, Egypt, attended university in Beirut, Lebanon, and is now living in New York City.
She has published three novels, Mirage, Mosaic, and Nadia's Song.
More about Soheir Khashoggi...
She has published three novels, Mirage, Mosaic, and Nadia's Song.
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