The Infidel

Description

The Infidel tells the story of Fatima, who lives in a remote city controlled by Islamist extremists who force her and her family into their service. Her father is killed in a suicide bombing, after which she marries an unemployed young man seeking his lost glory in a suicide attack, hoping to be rewarded with virgins in paradise and become a hero after a life of failure. After his death, the Islamists decide to marry her off to one of their armed group members, but this time she refuses to obey and decides to seek refuge in Europe. She makes an agreement with a smuggler who helps her reach Brussels, but he rapes her on the way. Upon her arrival, Fatima removes her veil, transforming from Fatima into Sophie, embodying two personas: Fatima, who works for a cleaning company during the day, and Sophie, the European woman who frequents bars and returns each night with a handsome young man. She seeks revenge on her husband, who told her that his suicide bombing was motivated by the promise of seventy virgins in paradise. Sophie decides to sleep with seventy men across Europe until she becomes entangled in a complex love affair, adding depth and richness to the narrative.

In this novel, Ali Bader explores the roots of violence in the Middle East through masterful narrative techniques, this time infused with a transparent, poetic language. The novel plays a crucial role in investigating and analyzing extremism in our societies, using the female body as a canvas upon which men inscribe their violence, cruelty, love, and betrayal. This novel is a story of oppressed yet also dominant femininity, exposing the fragility and crushing power of patriarchal culture. Through this framework, the narrative moves politically and geographically from Baghdad to Beirut amidst the civil war, and from the Middle East to Europe, where the colonial experience unfolds.

In this novel, Ali Bader revisits the techniques that characterized his previous works—cultural studies, postcolonial literature, anthropology, and confessional writing—this time blending them with a distinctive poetic language.