The actual real-life version of this gorgeous book is sitting on my bed right now, and is a bit darker than it appears in the photo above, and I haven't started it yet because it's so pretty and I'm so scared that I will accidentally scuff the cover or dog-ear a page or something. I can't bear the idea of it being spoilt. It's so gorgeous both inside and out and just amazing. I could gush about it all day and I haven't even started reading it yet (I sneaked a peek at the first couple of pages before buying it) but I know that the story and art inside is equally stunning.
Sprawling across an epic landscape of deserts, harems, and modern industrial clutter, Habibi tells the tale of Dodola and Zam, refugee child slaves bound to each other by chance, by circumstance, and by the love that grows between them. We follow them as their lives unfold together and apart; as they struggle to make a place for themselves in a world (not unlike our own) fueled by fear, lust, and greed; and as they discover the extraordinary depth—and frailty—of their connection.
At once contemporary and timeless, Habibi gives us a love story of astounding resonance: a parable about our relationship to the natural world, the cultural divide between the first and third worlds, the common heritage of Christianity and Islam, and, most potently, the magic of storytelling.
