- Zayd Muṭīʿa Dammāj (1943 – 2000, Yemen) – Al-Rahīnah (1984, English trans. The Hostage, 1994). This novel is set in the 1940s, a time when Yemen was ruled by the Zaidi Imams and ends shortly after the assassination of Imam Yahya in 1948. Its main character is a young boy taken hostage by the ruler; a tactic used to secure the obedience of different tribes. The novel describes the experiences of the narrator as he serves as a duwadera (similar to a eunich) at the governor’s palace, including his sexual relationship with the governor’s sister, and reflects on the extravagant lifestyle of Yemen’s rulers at the time.
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