The Consequences of Love

A Romeo and Juliet story set against the strict Muslim laws of Saudi Arabia, Sulaiman Addonia's astonishing debut novel is a sensuous and intensely wrought story of a young immigrant and a girl behind a veil who defy law and risk their lives to be together.
Under a relentless summer sun, women dressed like long dark shadows and men decked out in light cotton robes roam the streets of Jeddah. While most of Naser's friends have left town to escape the heat, he must stay behind to work. An African immigrant and outsider, Naser spends his spare time frequenting a friend's cafe, writing letters to his mother in Eritrea, and daydreaming about the glamorous girlfriend he hopes to one day have.
Naser and his younger brother were sent to Saudi Arabia to avoid the war back home, but though they live with their conservative Muslim uncle they remain under the watchful, wrathful eyes of the religious police, who monitor the community's every action, govern the near indestructible boundaries between men and women-walls in mosques, panels on buses, separate visiting quarters in houses, and, of course, the black veil, or "abaya," that adorns the women-and punish any disobedience by public beating or death.
But a splash of color arrives in Naser's world when unexpectedly a small piece of paper is dropped at his feet. It is a love note from a girl whose face he has never seen and whose voice he has never heard. To identify her among the sea of veiled women, she instructs him to look for a pair of pink shoes peeking out from under her draped abaya. Intrigued and encouraged, Naser rebels against Wahhabist Islamic convention and begins a clandestine correspondence with the girl. Yet even as the barriers that divide them begin to crumble under the weight of their passionate prose and devotion, the lovers' illicit affair will face the ultimate and most heartrending test.

About the Author :
Sulaiman S.M.Y. Addonia was born in Eritrea to an Eritrean mother and an Ethiopian father. He spent his early life in a refugee camp in Sudan following the Om Hajar massacre in 1976, and in his early teens he lived and studied in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. In 1990, he and his brother successfully sought asylum in the U.K. as underage immigrants. After learning English, he obtained a BSc in economics from University College London and an MSc in development studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He lives in London. The Consequences of Love is his first novel.

Review :
"A gorgeous, slow-burning love story set in Saudi Arabia; a tender, insightful look into what it's like to be a young man under such a repressive regime and what it's like to dream of love in a world where women are forbidden . . . The Consequences of Love is touching, infinitely plausible, and infused with a brooding sensuality."--Joanne Harris, author of "Chocolat
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"In The Consequences of Love, Sulaiman Addonia bravely explores the distorting and dehumanizing effects of Islamic tyranny on love and courtship. The novel offers a rare, unflinching glimpse into the bitter costs that one of America's closest allies, Saudia Arabia, imposes on its conflicted young generation."--Azadeh Moaveni, author of "Honeymoon in Tehran"

"Sulaiman Addonia has created a courageous ordinary man, and a great hero, in""The Consequences of Love. As I read, I held my breath for Naser, who lives in a situation full of cruelty. Against that dark canvas of fear, Naser's own choices-and Addonia's writing-shine with a brightness that shows the resilience of optimism. This is a wonderful book that takes an unflinching look at humanity's capacity for evil, but also the depth of its kindness."--V. V. Ganeshananthan, author of" Love Marriage
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"In this evocative debut novel, we learn of a forbidden love that is as much an escape as a prison."--James Levine, author of""The Blue Notebook
"A gorgeous, slow-burning love story . . . touching, infinitely plausible, and infused with a brooding sensuality."
--Joanne Harris, author of "Chocolat"