BOOKS
The Things We See in the Light
Abdel-Aziz Family Series #1. First published in 2021.
In the cafe, I watch as a woman takes a photo of her plate – an impressive, glossy lime-coloured dessert with shards of chocolate perched on top. I want to feel that ease and confidence, too. Like this is my city again, and I know my way around it.
Eight years ago, Sahar pursued her happily ever after when she married Khaled and followed him to Jordan, leaving behind her family, her friends and a thriving cake business. But married life didn’t go as planned and, haunted by secrets, Sahar has returned home to Sydney without telling her husband.
With the help of her childhood friends, Sahar hits the reset button on her life. She takes a job at a local patisserie run by Maggie, a strong but kind manager who guides Sahar in sweets and life.
‘The Things We See in the Light is presented as a coming-of-age novel, and Awad leverages the familiar beats of the genre into a generous and compelling story that rewards close reading and plays subtly with reader expectations. It’s a novel that gets a lot of small details right, most of all in its narrator Sahar, a rare character with a finely observed voice made to be underlined on the page.’—ABC Arts
But as she tentatively gets to know her colleagues, Sahar faces a whole new set of challenges. There’s Kat and Inez, who are determined that Sahar try new experiences. Then there’s Luke, a talented chocolatier and a bundle of contradictions.
As Sahar embraces the new, she reinvents herself, trying things once forbidden to her. But just when she is finally starting to find her feet, her past finds its way back to her.
Other critical praise
“Our collective appetite for private escapism has never been as high as now, so Amal’s prose – trafficking a sense of hope and a pulsating voracity for life – is welcome.”—The Sydney Morning Herald
‘The Things We See in the Light is as warm and enveloping as the rich chocolate and hot Turkish coffee that suffuse it … In the tradition of great women’s fiction writers such as Monica McInerney and Deborah Rodriguez, The Things We See in the Light is heartwarming and compelling. Sahar will pull you in with her story of growth, empowerment and new friendship, including a touch of romance.’—Books & Publishing
‘Pacey, tightly plotted, and with an unexpected development in the final act, it’s all too easy to fall under the charms of The Things We See in the Light. Like last year’s brilliant Such a Fun Age, it gives us an immensely relatable protagonist who isn’t always sure of herself, but is no less courageous for her vulnerability. Unabashedly warm, it still manages to trace Sahar’s relationship with her faith, trauma, and love, with unflinching honesty.’—Happy Mag
