Awards

• Winner of Katara Prize for Arabic Novel 2023 (Qatar)

Overview

The War is a haunting, psychologically rich novel about memory, love, and the invisible wounds carried long after the battlefield falls silent. On a snowy night in suburban America, Issa Saleh prepares to welcome Krystyna—his closest friend, caretaker, and the woman who once pushed him toward a war he barely survived. But as he searches for her through his house, she seems to vanish into thin air. What begins as an anxious wait spirals into a hallucinatory collapse in which the borders between the present and the Dhofar war of his youth dissolve. Through fractured memories, Issa relives the brutal campaign that shaped him: comrades lost in explosions, the chaotic return of the “victorious” soldiers, and the political betrayals that rewrote the country’s history in real time. At the heart of it all lies a deeper wound—his desire to be the hero Krystyna once expected, and the unbearable fear that the man who returned from war is not the one she loved, but a stranger, a double, or a ghost of the dead soldier he might have been. Structured with cinematic ambition and written in a lyrical, immersive style, The War moves between Washington, Muscat, and Dhofar, blending reality, hallucination, and memory into a portrait of a man unraveling under the weight of trauma. It is an exploration of exile, masculinity, political mythmaking, and the private battles fought long after the shooting stops. Winner of the 2023 Katara Prize for Arabic Novel, Mohammed Al-Yahyai’s work stands as one of the most powerful contemporary narratives on the psychological aftermath of conflict in the Arab world.

Full Product Details

9781788711159

Table of Contents

Reviews

“The War stands as proof that a novel can be a living memory—raw, unflinching, and capable of building a broader, more inclusive sense of belonging.” -- Idris Khadrawi * Al Faisal Magazine *

Author Information

Mohammed Al-Yahyai is an Omani writer, novelist, journalist, and producer of television and documentary film. His work is known for its psychological depth, cinematic sensibility, and its exploration of memory, conflict, and identity across the Arabian Peninsula. Widely regarded as one of Oman’s leading contemporary voices, he brings together literary craft and visual storytelling in a distinctive and compelling style. His novel The War won the 2023 Katara Prize for Arabic Novel, one of the most prestigious literary awards in the region.

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