JEDDAH: The 2024 novel “The Coin,” is the dizzying debut of Jerusalem-born Palestinian writer Yasmin Zaher, which hones in on the female body, and is written in a stream-of-consciousness narrative style.

Titled after a shekel coin the unnamed female protagonist believes she swallowed as a child, and is rusting and decomposing in her, the novel is essentially about an affluent yet displaced woman’s exploration — on her own terms —  of the pain and pleasures of life.

Zaher writes about the unraveling, or rather the becoming, of a Palestinian woman who moves to New York City with the hope of starting life afresh as a schoolteacher.

The coin is “resurrected” here, amid the dirt and poverty that plagues the American city, which the protagonist describes as: “How could the devil be the dream?” It seems to manifest as discomfort, linking the traumas of the past to her present.

The narrator befriends a homeless, yet elegant man whom she gets embroiled with in a Birkin scam. This is an exploration of the cosmopolitan city life’s obsession with consumerism and materialism, as well as the performative and elitist nature of fashion and wealth.

With a closet full of designer pieces, the woman’s refined taste in fashion is a ruse to help her navigate societal expectations against the call of her inner self. She asks herself: “I wondered what my true essence would be, if I were solitary, in nature, untamed and unconditioned?”

She is from Palestine, which she describes as “neither a country, nor the third world, it was its own thing.”

Moving to the Big Apple in pursuit of home and her ideal self, this triggers obsessive cleaning rituals because the city “embraced the dirt like it was an aesthetic.”

As a woman from a country under occupation, her own body becomes the site of power struggles, a site of cleansing rather than being ethnically cleansed out.

Her protagonist says “the women in my family placed lot of importance on being clean … perhaps because there was little else they could control in their lives.”

The narrative is mercurial in its depiction of her cleansing rituals that are juxtaposed with glimmers of violent and disturbing psychopathic thoughts, making her not just an intriguing protagonist to read, but an elusive one.

The Yazidi nightmare

Ten years after the genocide, their torment continues

Enter

keywords

DUBAI: As Jordan’s Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah and Rajwa Al-Hussein welcome their first child, Arab News takes a closer look at the royal power couple’s relationship.

Engagement 

The couple first announced their engagement in August 2022.

The ceremony took place at the home of the bride-to-be’s father in Riyadh. The guests included several members of the Jordanian royal family — including Prince Hassan bin Talal, Prince Hashem bin Abdullah, Prince Ali bin Hussein, Prince Hashim bin Hussein, Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad, and Prince Rashid bin Hassan — along with members of Al-Saif’s family.

Before this, Princess Rajwa had lived life outside the public eye since her birth on April 28, 1994. She is the daughter of late Saudi businessman Khalid bin Musaed bin Saif bin Abdulaziz Al-Saif, who died in January this year, and his wife, Azza bint Nayef Abdulaziz Ahmad Al-Sudairi.

Meanwhile, Prince Hussein has been in the spotlight since the moment he was born in Amman on June 28, 1994. He was appointed crown prince by royal decree on July 2, 2009.

First official appointment

Rajwa’s first official appointment was in October 2022. She visited the Royal Hashemite Court along with her fiancé at the time and Prince Hussein bin Talal.

A family wedding

On March 12, 2023, Rajwa attended her first royal wedding, accompanying the crown prince to Princess Imaan’s ceremony.

She wore a yellow Neolitsea dress by Roksanda and a pair of Malone Souliers Marla 85 Mules from the brand’s capsule collection with L’Atelier Nawbar.

Princess Rajwa’s henna night

In May 2023, Queen Rania hosted the pre-wedding henna night celebrations for Rajwa.

The princess looked radiant in an ethereal white and gold creation by celebrity-loved Saudi designer Honayda Serafi.

Apart from members of the royal family and Al-Saif’s family, as well as relatives and friends, Queen Rania also invited notable women from across Jordan’s diverse socio-economic and cultural landscape to take part in the celebrations.

A royal wedding

The couple tied the knot on June 1, 2023 at Zahran Palace in Amman in a ceremony that included dignitaries and royals from around the world, including the UK’s Prince and Princess of Wales William and Kate Middleton; US First Lady Jill Biden; Qatar’s Sheikha Moza bint Nasser; the king and queen of Malaysia; the king and queen of The Netherlands; King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía of Spain; Prince Sébastien of Luxembourg; Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark; Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and Prince Daniel, Duke of Västergötland; Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway and Hisako, Princess Takamado and her daughter, Princess Tsuguko of Takamado of Japan, among others. 

Rajwa wore a classic white gown by celebrity-loved Lebanese couturier Elie Saab. The full-sleeved gown featured a dramatic veil that trailed for several meters behind her, while the neckline stood out for its chic draping.

For his part, the crown prince donned a suit that drew inspiration from the design worn by King Abdullah II on his wedding day in 1993. The suit’s sleeves paid homage to the style favored by both King Abdullah II and King Abdullah I.

Pregnancy announcement

In April 2024, the couple announced they are expecting their first child in the summer.

Bundle of joy

They welcomed their new bundle of joy, Eman, on Aug. 3.