An Unnecessary Woman

Themes

Saleh secretly translates novels of Western literature, like Anna Karenina and Austerlitz into Arabic, and makes continual references to authors like Italo Calvino. Within this context the novel, thematically, focuses on the role of the reader in engaging and examining literature. As the Independent describes "Aaliyah keeps company with her writers – living and dead" instead of people. The Washington Post describes "Literature is Aaliya's religion and much of the wonderful humor in “An Unnecessary Woman” comes from her pithy contempt for those who fail to live up to its sacred precepts."

Reception

Reception of the novel was generally very positive. NPR, though noting that the plot is relatively limited, praised the book writing that "I can't remember the last time I was so gripped simply by a novel's voice.". The Guardian's reviewer similarly highlighted how the novel has a very "elastic" voice, as Saleh narrates the novel with both interior dialogue and other narration strategies. The Guardian concludes very positively writing that "precisely in its strangeness, a genuine literary pleasure: a complicated one."

Open Letters Monthly reviewer Steve Donoghue called the novel "infinitely strange" but "smarter and more assured" than his last novel The Hakawati. Similarly Washington Post reviewer called the novel as "epic as its predecessor". The Independent gave very positive review concluding "Read it once, read it twice, read other books for a decade or so, and then pick it up and read it anew. This one’s a keeper."