A Marriage in Four Seasons: A Novel

(Paperback)

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Description

After a devastating stillbirth and longing for a second child, English professor Joy explores Granada, Spain, hoping to ease her heartbreak and rekindle her relationship with her husband, Richard. Instead, their trip leads to an erotic interlude between Joy and a handsome strangerand Richard, filled with disappointment at his disintegrating marriage, embarks on an affair with vivacious Belinda, their tryst unfolding in a series of cheap hotel rooms.

After learning of Richards affair, Joy divorces him and moves to Virginia. Despite her lingering bitterness over his infidelity, Joy is inspired by the centuries-old love story between Sultan Suleyman and his Russian concubine, Roxelana, and in traveling to Istanbul with Richard finds herself attracted to him anew. However, Richard has a confession: Belinda, although out of his life for several years, has had his daughtera now-three-year-old named Karmaand, critically ill, has asked that Richard and Joy take Karma. Joy agrees to travel to Tunisia with Richardand when they arrive, Belinda divulges the shocking truth about her daughter to Joy.

Reviews

"Abdul-Bakis novel explores the highs and lows of a marriage rocked by tragedy and infidelity . . . An often beautifully written work that lays its characters low with grief and lifts them high with the bliss of travel." Kirkus Reviews

Author Bio

Kathryn Abdul-baki was born in Washington DC to an Arab father and an American mother. She grew up in Iran, Kuwait, Beirut, and Jerusalem, where she attended Arabic, British, and American schools. She attended the American University of Beirut, Lebanon, has a BA in journalism from George Washington University in Washington DC, and an MA in creative writing from George Mason University, Virginia. She has published four books of fiction, some of which have been taught at universities in multicultural literature, womens studies, and Arab studies departments, and is the recipient of the Mary Roberts Rinehart award for short fiction. Abdul-baki has three grown children and currently resides with her husband in McLean, Virginia.