The Forgotten Between Two Waters
The Forgotten Between Two Waters
In The Forgotten Between Two Waters, Laila Al-Motawa returns with a masterfully layered novel that explores the intricate relationship between geography, memory, and identity. The “two waters” in the title refer to Bahrain’s dual maritime identities — the salty sea and the sweet springs — a metaphor that underpins the cultural, emotional, and historical depths of the narrative.
The novel centers on Nadia, a woman who tracks the traces of water and serves as a triple narrative force: the narrator, the narrated-about, and the embodiment of the story itself. Through this complex structure, Al-Motawa challenges conventional storytelling, using epilepsy as a symbolic and technical device to blur the lines between time and memory. The seizures become narrative portals, linking Nadia’s contemporary consciousness with the ancestral memories of her grandmother, Najwa, effectively stitching personal and collective histories together.
Al-Motawa’s language is rich, poetic, and often deliberately disruptive. She breaks traditional punctuation and narrative continuity to reflect the fragmented nature of memory and the sea’s undulating rhythm. Her use of metaphor and imagery evokes a cinematic quality, transforming the reading experience into a sensorial journey that is both disorienting and immersive.
This is not a linear novel. The Forgotten Between Two Waters demands interpretative engagement. It oscillates between expansion and regression, requiring readers to move beyond passive consumption toward an active excavation of meaning. The interplay between myth, oral history, and psychological depth gives the novel a timeless texture, elevating it into the realm of literary experimentation.
Al-Motawa succeeds in crafting a novel that is as much about absence as it is about presence — about those forgotten by history and those who remember through storytelling. The result is a poignant, symbolically dense work that reinvents the Bahraini narrative from within, making The Forgotten Between Two Waters a compelling and necessary addition to contemporary Arabic literature
The novel centers on Nadia, a woman who tracks the traces of water and serves as a triple narrative force: the narrator, the narrated-about, and the embodiment of the story itself. Through this complex structure, Al-Motawa challenges conventional storytelling, using epilepsy as a symbolic and technical device to blur the lines between time and memory. The seizures become narrative portals, linking Nadia’s contemporary consciousness with the ancestral memories of her grandmother, Najwa, effectively stitching personal and collective histories together.
Al-Motawa’s language is rich, poetic, and often deliberately disruptive. She breaks traditional punctuation and narrative continuity to reflect the fragmented nature of memory and the sea’s undulating rhythm. Her use of metaphor and imagery evokes a cinematic quality, transforming the reading experience into a sensorial journey that is both disorienting and immersive.
This is not a linear novel. The Forgotten Between Two Waters demands interpretative engagement. It oscillates between expansion and regression, requiring readers to move beyond passive consumption toward an active excavation of meaning. The interplay between myth, oral history, and psychological depth gives the novel a timeless texture, elevating it into the realm of literary experimentation.
Al-Motawa succeeds in crafting a novel that is as much about absence as it is about presence — about those forgotten by history and those who remember through storytelling. The result is a poignant, symbolically dense work that reinvents the Bahraini narrative from within, making The Forgotten Between Two Waters a compelling and necessary addition to contemporary Arabic literature
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Laila Al-Motawa is a Bahraini novelist and feminist writer who has carved a distinctive space for herself in contemporary Arabic literature. Her breakout novel My Heart is Not for Sale, published by Dar Al-Farabi in 2012, remained on bestseller lists for years and established her as a voice of bold literary and social engagement in the Gulf region. Al-Motawa’s writing merges intimate human experience with a strong commitment to women’s rights, social reform, and cultural memory.
Her literary presence has been recognized on various regional and international platforms. In 2016, she was selected to participate in the prestigious International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) writing workshop, guided by renowned authors Mohammed Hasan Alwan and Hammour Ziada. In 2019, she was featured in the landmark anthology How Many Lungs for the Coast, which celebrated 50 Arab writers under the age of 40, commemorating Sharjah’s selection as UNESCO’s World Book Capital. This collection was introduced by poet Qassim Haddad and novelist Jokha Alharthi, further affirming Al-Motawa’s standing among a new wave of Arab storytellers.
In 2020, she was invited as a speaker at the Sharjah International Book Fair, where she took part in a panel on the intersection of history and fiction alongside Russian academic Yasser Aql. She emphasized the need to re-examine historical narratives with intellectual honesty and questioned the authority of imposed interpretations.
In 2021, Al-Motawa became one of the first female Gulf writers to participate in the Lyon Literature Festival in France. There, she contributed to conversations surrounding women’s perspectives in writing, affirming her transnational relevance.
Deeply committed to feminist thought, Al-Motawa has also participated in public tributes to iconic Arab feminists, notably in a literary farewell for Nawal El Saadawi. She joined prominent feminist voices such as Joumana Haddad, Mona Eltahawy, Rula Jebreal, and Amal Al-Harithi in honoring Saadawi’s legacy.
Al-Motawa’s oeuvre is marked by resistance to patriarchal norms, lyrical narrative experimentation, and a search for new forms of storytelling that center marginalized voices.
Her literary presence has been recognized on various regional and international platforms. In 2016, she was selected to participate in the prestigious International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) writing workshop, guided by renowned authors Mohammed Hasan Alwan and Hammour Ziada. In 2019, she was featured in the landmark anthology How Many Lungs for the Coast, which celebrated 50 Arab writers under the age of 40, commemorating Sharjah’s selection as UNESCO’s World Book Capital. This collection was introduced by poet Qassim Haddad and novelist Jokha Alharthi, further affirming Al-Motawa’s standing among a new wave of Arab storytellers.
In 2020, she was invited as a speaker at the Sharjah International Book Fair, where she took part in a panel on the intersection of history and fiction alongside Russian academic Yasser Aql. She emphasized the need to re-examine historical narratives with intellectual honesty and questioned the authority of imposed interpretations.
In 2021, Al-Motawa became one of the first female Gulf writers to participate in the Lyon Literature Festival in France. There, she contributed to conversations surrounding women’s perspectives in writing, affirming her transnational relevance.
Deeply committed to feminist thought, Al-Motawa has also participated in public tributes to iconic Arab feminists, notably in a literary farewell for Nawal El Saadawi. She joined prominent feminist voices such as Joumana Haddad, Mona Eltahawy, Rula Jebreal, and Amal Al-Harithi in honoring Saadawi’s legacy.
Al-Motawa’s oeuvre is marked by resistance to patriarchal norms, lyrical narrative experimentation, and a search for new forms of storytelling that center marginalized voices.
Her work continues to redefine the contours of feminist literature in the Arab world.
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