A novel about the sexual awakening of an Arab woman, The Almond is both poetic and raw, an unforgettable journey into a hidden erotic world. ‘A heart-rending tale told by a woman who rescues her sexuality from a culture of repression and, in the bright lights and dark place of the city, bursts into flames of anger and desire and love.An important and unforgettable read’ Jane Juska, author of A Round-heeled Woman ‘This is a book of incredible audacity. It is the story, dense and lyrical at once, without concession and also without illusion, of sexual passion, and it is written by a woman from a Muslim culture. But the author succeeds at another feat as well: even as she revolts against her repressive upbringing, nevertheless she makes us rediscover an Islam where the most beautiful sins “earn Heaven”’ Catherine Millet, author of The Sexual Life of Catherine M ‘Extraordinary…a window into a closed world…Highly sensuous and extremely explicit’ The Times