Half a burger

Product details

About the book "Half a Burger": Maryam is a young, ambitious, and successful Arab woman with many dreams and desires, as well as much love and passion. Every night, her memories, gathered in the pages and words of her diary, take her back to the past, to everything that happened with Saif. "Half a Burger" is a novel that tells the story of an Iraqi expatriate woman living between the UAE and London. Maryam falls in love with a married man, then they separate. During her period of forgetting and healing, she encounters several people from different countries and cultures who share their stories and experiences with her. The novel weaves its threads from these stories, which are linked to cultural and societal dimensions and social phenomena, to tell us about all relationships that begin and end with love. But what are the reasons that make us love? And how do we endure after love and become who we are? The novel also focuses on the essence of womanhood, the mindset of man, and the way both men and women love and deal with surrounding circumstances based on an Eastern mentality and the culture of logic, society, right and wrong. The novel unfolds across different time periods, shifting back and forth between the past and the present, all through the lens of Maryam's diary. Maryam speaks of the UAE, the country where she was raised and grew up, a country she loves and to which she belongs because she has known no other. She yearns for Iraq, her motherland, which she left at an age when she had no say in the matter, departing prematurely and leaving a part of herself behind. She also experiences a deep connection with Britain, the country she has always loved and where she dreamed of pursuing her postgraduate studies. For her, it was a homeland of both dreams and pain. How will Maryam reconcile and blend three cultures and three homelands within a single persona? It is the love we seek, regardless of our circumstances or where we find ourselves. It is the wounds we yearn to heal, whether they are still bleeding or merely scars that disturb us. It is the hope, the ambition, and the desire to persevere, always and forever, despite the trials, tribulations, and losses that weigh us down and exhaust us. This book speaks of Maryam on behalf of all women, and of Saif on behalf of all men. Many names and homelands are mentioned here, representing our microcosm and our vast hearts, hearts filled with love yet surrounded by war. The novel's characters are diverse, including the protagonist, Maryam, and Saif (an Eastern man living in Britain). Maryam encounters various other characters, such as Najla (a Saudi national), Rahma (an Iraqi), and Fatima (a Moroccan). They are united by their shared Arab culture and heritage, and by experiences centered on love and resilience in the face of pain amidst difficult circumstances. The book is a journey that takes the reader from the very beginning, with its separation, pain, and vulnerability. It then gradually guides them, whispering that pain is a reality, but so is life. Dreams, ambitions, and success are what will endure, while pain will inevitably fade. The message of this novel is directed to every girl and boy who has loved and then entered the fray of life, where challenge and resilience are their duty. This novel tells them how to love life despite the pain, despite the memories, and despite the circumstances of time and place. Because our inner strength and our belief in victory is a weapon that will never run out and will never wear out.