Granada: A Novel

Radwa Ashour skillfully weaves a history of Granadan rule and an Arabic world into a novel that evokes cultural loss and the disappearance of a vanquished population. The novel follows the family of Abu Jaafar, the bookbinderhis wife, widowed daughter-in-law, her two children, and his two apprenticesas they witness Christopher Columbus and his entourage in a triumphant parade featuring exotic plants and animals and human captives from the New World. Embedded in the narrative is the preparation for the marriage of Saad, one of the apprentices, and Saleema, Abu Jaafar’s granddaughtera scenario that is elegantly revealed in a number of parallel scenes.

As the new rulers of Granada confiscate books and officials burn the collected volumes,...