LoveReading Says
LoveReading Says
Fans of lyrical literary fiction that gets to the heart of the human condition will be seduced by Yumna Kassab’s The Lovers. Told in bell-clear, poetic style, with a structure that parallels elements of stories with the beginning, middle and ending stages of relationships, it’s refreshingly different, and speaks in a mesmerising voice.
The lovers of the title are Amir and Jamila, individuals from very different sides of the track. Their tale opens with an arresting summary of Amir’s perspective: “What Amir loved most about Jamila was that she smelled of money…He could have died a happy man beneath her love, believing himself an entrant to Paradise”. At the same time, Amir is aware that “Women like her did not stay, women like her only joked until it was time for her to return to her home. At best it was a dalliance, a sweet pleasure to enjoy until it dulled”.
Through vignettes focussing on one or other character, we follow the lovers through their dalliance, witnessing the pull of desire, the souring counter tug of family expectations, and the fear of “what happens once we become used to each other, once we become bored.” Perhaps most poignant of all is the exploration of the tendency to expect too much, to place “too great a weight on our love beyond what it could bear. Perhaps my mistake was to make you the centre of my life”.
If you love thought-provoking fiction with haunting, dream-like vibes, The Lovers will almost certainly have you under its spell.
Joanne Owen
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The Lovers Synopsis
What happens when we become used to each other, when we become bored, when we anticipate each other’s moods like the seasons cycled in a day? What happens when you are tired of me and I tire of you?
Every couple has a story. How they met, how they fell in love – their ups, their downs. What made them want to be in each other's arms day and night. The struggle of family expectations. The need to please each other, the desire to go their separate ways. It is about the private universe between two people as they try to hold to each other despite the barriers of geography, culture and class.
Every couple has a beginning, a middle, and maybe an end.
The Lovers is an enchanting fable that explores the light and dark of a relationship – a love distilled down to its barest form. You might think you know this story. Maybe you do.
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781761150623 |
| Publication date: |
20th April 2023 |
| Author: |
Yumna Kassab |
| Publisher: |
Ultimo Press |
| Format: |
Hardback |
| Pagination: |
246 pages |
| Primary Genre |
General Fiction
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| Other Genres: |
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Press Reviews
Yumna Kassab Press Reviews
'her writing is poetic and reverential. The author's understanding of love, romance and of responsibility runs deep.' - Books + Publishing
'Sometimes, Kassab shows us, love can be another word for cruelty. Sometimes the stories we hide behind reveal our deepest truths.' - Sydney Morning Herald
'a raw, haunting and honest look at love, relationships, and the moments that break us.' - Mamamia
'The delicate power that fables hold - their universality, while retaining their specificity - is captured in The Lovers. Ultimately, Kassab's novel rests on the premise of the 'impossibility of language, of being able to ever understand someone else.'' - Artshub
'Beautifully told in Yumna Kassab's poetic prose, The Lovers is both the story of the tumultuous relationship between Amir and Jamila and an exploration of class, culture and the complex nature of love.' - Sunday Life
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