Dreams of Water by Nada Awar Jarrar: book review

Dreams of Water (2007) is set in Beirut, Lebanon, and London, England, after Lebanon’s civil war (1975-1990). It commences with the protagonist, Aneesa, now 30 years old and living in London, reflecting on her homeland, Lebanon, when she was 10 years old and her 15-year-old brother was abducted. A pyschic in Beirut told Aneesa and her mother, Waddid, that Bassam was killed three days after he was abducted. But was that true?

Aneesa leaves Lebanon to work in London as an Arabic translator. At the bus stop on her way to work she meets Salah, also from Lebanon. He is married to Huda, with a son, Samir, who attends university. Aneesa and Salah become friends and she tells him about her brother Bassam.

Huda dies. Aneesa’s and Salah’s relationship intensifies and she moves in with him. Meanwhile Aneesa’s mother has never recovered from her son’s disappearance. When her husband dies, she volunteers at an orphanage – looking for a substitute for Bassam. She befriends Ramzi. He is 10 years old.

After Salah’s death Aneesa returns to Lebanon determined to find out what happened to her brother twenty years ago.

The novel never convincingly portrays Aneesa resolving issues about her brother and his loss, and the characters fall flat. It’s difficult to empathise with any of the characters. The character that has the most depth is Aneesa’s mother who bears the greatest loss. The novel repeatedly travels back and forth in time and in destination between Beirut and London. Consequently, reflection and reality become distorted, making the plot disjointed and fragmented.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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