Sirius

About this book

Wafaa grows up without safety under a violent father, only to discover that one escape can lead into another form of hardship. Marriage and motherhood seem to offer shelter, but bereavement leaves her raising three children while confronting relatives who seek to defraud them of their inheritance. Alaa Ismail follows a woman who has learned to fear happiness because every brief joy has carried a lasting cost. Against hunger, rumor, and a society quick to condemn women, Wafaa refuses to surrender her dignity. Sirius is a stark novel of endurance and the difficult struggle to reclaim agency after repeated betrayal.