The Daughters of Izdihar is Hadeer Elsbai’s debut novel. It’s the first in The Alamaxa Duology, and I raced to the second book the moment I finished this one (tune in next month for that review). It’s always a thrill to read a fantasy novel that’s not set in the Western tradition, and with a grounding in modern Egyptian history, the book’s setting, politics, and attitude are refreshing.
Nehal has always been protected from her impulsive decisions by her family name. That’s the only reason she’s gotten away with openly flaunting her waterweaving—the skill to manipulate water, which dances the line between illegal and disapproved of in their society. But she can’t get out of the arranged marriage that will save her family’s fortune. What she can do is blackmail her new husband into letting her attend the controversial Weaving Academy to train as a waterweaver.
What does she blackmail him with? His affair with Giorgina, who is poor but brilliant—and secretly an earthweaver. Giorgina is also part of the Daughters of Izdihar, a political group agitating for women’s rights, particularly the right to vote. When Nehal gets involved with the Daughters, the two women strike up an unlikely friendship as, all around them, their nation seethes with violence, despair, and revolution.
Nehal and Giorgina blaze off the page, full of anger at their restrictive patriarchal society and sorrow at their failures to change it. Their love for the sisterhood they find in the Daughters feels revolutionary in and of itself (and in Nehal’s case, she discovers a very particular and revolutionary kind of love in the group’s charismatic leader, Malak). Nehal is chaotic and straightforward, determined to barge through every obstacle in her path and unable or unwilling to take the time to consider the consequences. Giorgina is slower, more reasoned, but ultimately driven to risk everything to chase love and freedom.
Both women fight for recognition and autonomy in their own lives, against the backdrop of a fight to reshape an entire nation. With a vibrant secondary cast, The Daughters of Izdihar mixes political intrigue with magic school with feminist rage and delivers on all of them. The plot rips along and the cliffhanger ending leaves you wondering how it will all get tied up in the second book! I’d read a series set in this world, with these characters, but if I can’t have that, I guess I’ll settle for just one more.
If that’s not enough to catch your interest, the books come with their own playlist. Pop it on in the background and pretend you’re in a teashop as you settle in for a wild read.
Warnings: societal homophobia and misogyny, violence, nonconsensual digital penetration (spoiler: Giorgina is forced to undergo a virginity examination).
Kathryne Slant (she/her) is a queer Canadian writer and general pop culture enthusiast. She wants to spend less time online and more time at puppy yoga. Find her @SapphosHands.bsky.social.
