In the beginning Jamila and Amir’s love is heady and their differences are a novelty.

Jamila is from a higher class and her family does not approve of Amir or her independent lifestyle. Amir is divorced and entranced by Jamila’s strength, her carefreeness, her sensuality. But the things that attract them to each other are the same that begin to undo them.

Intertwined with the memories of the couple’s time together are stories told by Amir’s friend Samir and stories about others in the village. These are cautionary tales of what can happen if the lovers allow their fears to flourish and the damage they can do and act as a foreboding that builds the tension around whether they will find their way back to each other.

The Lovers is told through short vignette-style chapters and shifting between the perspectives of each character. But don’t expect anything linear. Instead Kassab delivers prose that is dreamlike and a reading experience that makes you feel as though you’re capturing memories and fragments of a relationship. You must piece it together to understand what brought these two together, the intimacies they shared and the things that started to fracture their love.

The Lovers is not a book that can be easily categorised in a ‘if you like this, you’ll love this’ kind of way. But it held me in its trance as I allowed myself to be taken to where it wanted me to go. Read it in one or two sittings, allowing yourself to appreciate its beautiful crafting and to enjoy giving yourself the time to piece together this unique story about love and desire.

Reviewed by Anabel Pandiella