الأفق الأعلىUfuq al-A'la

Shortlisted for the 2023 International Prize for Arabic Fiction (Arab Booker), «The Highest Part of the Horizon» by Saudi writer Fatima Abdulhamid.

«The Farthest Horizon» is a satirical black comedy, narrated by Azrael, the Angel of Death. He confides in the reader directly about his mission and describes the lives of people he encounters and what they say to him when he arrives to tell them their time is up. Through him, we meet Suleiman, a widower in his fifties, whose mother married him off when he was thirteen to a woman eleven years his senior. All his life, Suleiman has been looked after by various women, and in his weakness, he is a counterpoint to the stereotypical image of the macho Arab man. Left alone in his flat, Suleiman has a new, unexpected beginning when he falls in love with a neighbour he glimpses in the house opposite. Combining magical realism and psychological exploration, The Farthest Horizon seems to imply that planning and predicting the future are impossible, since you will be tricked by life and death, and whatever your choices may be, much is down to chance. - (arabicfiction.org)

About the author
Fatima Abdulhamid is a Saudi Arabian writer, born in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in 1982. She graduated with a BA in Psychology and previously worked as a teacher before becoming a psychologist. She has published a short story collection entitled Like a Paper Plane (2010) and three novels: The Edge of Silver (2013), F for Female (2016), and The Farthest Horizon (2022).