The Pact We Made

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Featured on BBC Radio 4s Open Book Featured on BBC Radio 3s Free Thinking An ELLE Magazine cultural pick Reviewed in the Observer

Beautifully written Joanna Cannon
Fascinating full of personality Guardian
Brilliant What a debut Pandora Sykes
How could I explain to her that nothing in my life felt real That in a country like Kuwait, where everyone knew everything about each other, the most monumental thing to ever happen to me was buried and covered over For the sake of my reputation, my future, my sisters and cousins; the family honor sat on my little shoulders, so no-one could ever know.

Dahlia has two lives. In one, she is a young woman with a good job, great friends and a busy social life. In the other, she is an unmarried daughter living at home, struggling with a burgeoning anxiety disorder and a deeply buried secret: a violent betrayal too shameful to speak of.

With her thirtieth birthday fast-approaching, pressure from her mother to accept a marriage proposal begins to strain the family.As her two lives start to collide and fracture, all Dahlia can think of is escape: something that seems impossible when she cant even leave the country without her fathers consent.

But what if Dahlia does have a choice What if all she needs is the courage to makeit

Set in contemporary Kuwait, The Pact We Made is a deeply affecting and timely debut about family, secrets and one womans search for a different life.

Reviews

So beautifully written and so important, and so cleverly crafted, it can't be a debut. But it is Joanna Cannon

[A] fascinating glimpse into the complex and contradictory life of a modern Kuwaiti woman full of personality and touches of humour Guardian

A Kuwaiti #MeToo novel of muffled suffering and a bid for freedom- absorbing, brave and compelling Leila Aboulela

Truthful and courageous, radical and lyrical. I loved it Hanan Al-Shaykh

Brilliant book about the pressures of being a 30 year old unmarried woman in Kuwait the struggle for modernity amidst patriarchal tradition and the cultural failure to acknowledge trauma. What a debut Pandora Sykes

Set in contemporary Kuwait, AlAmmar asks us to reimagine the lives of modern Muslims as they struggle to reconcile the freedom of choice with the customs of their faith BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking

[A] fascinating debut nuanced and understanding Observer

One of those books you ration so it doesnt end too soon, its beautifully written and unbelievably powerful. I loved it Katie Lowe, author of The Furies

A timely and deeply affecting debut with a voice that needs to be heard, at a time when it matters most Charlotte Philby, author of The Most Difficult Thing

The Pact We Made deals with one womans search for independence ELLE

Author Bio

Layla AlAmmar grew up in Kuwait, with an American mother and a Kuwaiti father. She has a Masters in Creative Writing from the University of Edinburgh. Her work has appeared in the Evening Standard, Quail Bell Magazine and Aesthetica Magazine, where she was a finalist for the Creative Writing Award 2015. She currently lives in Kuwait. The Pact We Made is her debut novel.