In the Empty Quarter

By: G. Willow Wilson

Narrated by: Soneela Nankani

A woman’s journey to self-discovery collides with the ancient legends of the Rubʿ al-Khali desert in this short historical fantasy by the award-winning author of Alif the Unseen.

Jean is the young wife of an American businessman searching for oil near the Persian Gulf in 1952. In the bustle of the market and the dark eyes of her husband’s colleague, Jean is searching for something else: a life far from the one she knows. Then, after one wrong step in a desert gully, Jean finds herself trapped in a cave-in - and she’s not alone. When a legend comes to life and offers a path forward into the unknown, for Jean there is no going back.

©2021 G. Willow Wilson. (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"Narrator Soneela Nankani captures her manipulativeness, boredom, feelings of superiority to the other wives on the trip, and insistence on getting her own way. When Jean interacts with her husband's Arab guide, Nankani makes a subtle shift, coming across as confident and flirtatious.” (AudioFile Magazine)

What an interesting little story

Beautiful descriptions. The imagery, textures, and scents come through vividly. Conversations flowed smoothly and captivatingly. Beautiful narration.

Nice Quick Story

It takes places in the 1950s and uses some ideas from then which maybe some of the other reviewers might have missed. its very imaginative and a fun quick read to listen to.

Terrible

This book is terrible. It’s badly researched and badly written. It supports ingrained misogyny in that women should only be baby makers and it is insulting of expat and Middle East life.

It’s really sad such an attempt of useless fiction is allowed because it’s so badly written and offending.