This book. This book!!!

I was nervous going into it thanks to the large number of POVs, but I found it so easy to keep track of everyone. The chapters are short, and each character is so unique, even with their shared experiences and difficulties. The way their stories wove together was nothing short of perfect. The settings also deserve a mention considering the incredible detail that went into the descriptions; it enhanced an already amazing novel.

Gulf is a fantastic book. I will be recommending it to everyone I know and making it my pick for my book club. This is certainly a book that will leave you thinking long after you finish.

Thank you to the publisher for the e-copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

P.S. I'm obsessed with the cover.

Gulf is a captivating story that explores identity and connection against a compelling coastal backdrop. The writing is vivid, and the characters feel authentic, drawing you into their journeys. A few moments may feel a bit rushed, but overall, it’s a well crafted and engaging reads. Ideal for readers who enjoy thoughtful, character driven narratives with a hint of adventure.

Reading Gulf by Mo Ogrodnik was an eye-opening and emotional experience. I was drawn in by the stories of Dounia, Flora, Zeinah, Justine, and Eskedare—five women from vastly different backgrounds whose lives collide in the Arabian Gulf. Ogrodnik's writing is powerful, and each character's voice feels so authentic that I couldn’t help but become deeply invested in their struggles and resilience.

I loved how the novel captured the complexity of culture, power, and survival without ever feeling preachy. It doesn’t shy away from difficult truths but instead brings them to light with sensitivity and depth. At times, the narrative jumped between characters a bit abruptly, which made it slightly challenging to keep track, but once I settled into the rhythm, I was fully immersed.

What struck me most was how Gulf gave a voice to women whose stories are often overlooked, making me reflect on the hidden struggles people face beneath the surface. It’s a novel that lingers long after the last page, making me appreciate the strength of women who endure so much, often in silence.

If you’re looking for a book that offers a fresh, honest perspective and makes you think about the world differently, Gulf is absolutely worth your time.

I liked the author’s writing style, I just wish that the chapters were longer and didn’t switch around every so often. This book held my interest on and off. It was interesting to read something that takes place in that part of the world. At times this book was very disturbing as well. I would recommend this book to a book club.

“Gulf” is an intense, beautifully written debut that shines an unflinching light on the hidden lives of women in the Arabian Gulf. Mo Ogrodnik skillfully brings together five women from vastly different backgrounds, each struggling to carve out their place in a world that often denies them control over their own lives. The interconnected narratives reveal a tapestry of cruelty, rebellion, resilience, and above all—hope.

Ogrodnik’s writing is both cinematic and heartbreaking. She captures the emotional weight of each woman’s experience without ever veering into melodrama. The short, alternating chapters keep the pace brisk, yet the depth of the characters makes their stories linger long after the final page.

Though some sections are undeniably bleak and difficult to read, that’s part of what makes “Gulf” so impactful. It forces readers to confront uncomfortable truths about privilege, oppression, and survival in a region often romanticized for its wealth and modernity.

If I had one critique, it’s that the relentless heaviness can make the book feel emotionally exhausting at times. Still, this is a necessary, thought-provoking read that offers no easy answers—only raw, honest storytelling that leaves you changed.

Highly recommended for readers looking for a powerful, eye-opening novel that gives voice to stories too often silenced.

Gulf by Mo Ogrodnik was a captivating and well written story.
This book had me hooked from the beginning. It is a compelling debut.
This book was such an unexpected treat.
The writing is exceptional and I was hooked after the first sentence.

🏜 Gulf by Mo Ogrodnik released on May 6th, 2025, is a very apt name for this thought-provoking and hard-hitting novel. Set in the UAE, the title initially points to the region itself, but as the story unfolds, the word Gulf takes on a much deeper meaning. It represents the vast divides explored in this book: between cultures, between social classes, between women, between mothers and children, between the usurped and the usurper. The reader is left to consider which of these gulfs is the most painful, the most unjust.

The novel centers on five fierce women, each fighting for her freedom and agency. They come from different countries, and their paths converge in unexpected, often heartbreaking ways. Their journeys are not easy, and certainly not without peril but what connects them all is resilience. A relentless will to survive.🏜

🛺This was not an easy book to read. As an Indian, I’m familiar with the labor conditions in the Gulf, and some of the cruelty portrayed here is devastating, yet not unfamiliar. The novel doesn’t shy away from depicting these hard truths and it goes even further. Even the morally grey characters are shaped by systems that deny them agency. These women do what they must to survive. So the question remains: why do these gulfs exist in the first place? Aren’t we all human beings? Is it just about power, or something deeper?🛺

A deeply unsettling, powerful read that challenges and lingers long after the last page.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster for the copy.

CW: This novel contains disturbing content related to abuse, exploitation, and systemic violence, and postpartum depression. Please read with care.

1,212 reviews
May 8, 2025
This is one of the best character studies I've read. Five women - rich, poor, immigrant, scholarly, and teenaged- fight personal and societal battles to survived in the Middle East. Just surviving is their only goal. I received this from Net Galley.

Gulf is an incredibly captivating story of five women. The five women come from different places, and their lives are intertwined in the Middle East. The chapters rotate characters and every one of their stories is utterly engrossing. Flora is from the Philippines, and after a devastating storm in which she loses everything, finds herself looking for work in the Gulf as a domestic worker. Dounia suffers from severe postpartum depression and is stuck having to care for her mother-in-law in a house she doesn't want to live in while her husband is away for work most of the time. Justine from NYC is hired to design a museum exhibition in which falconry is the focus. Zeinah is married off to an ISIS member whom she has never met and gets embroiled with other ISIS wives who have their part to play in the jihad. Lastly, Eskedare, a teenager from East Africa, longs for and eventually tries to follow her best friend, who moved with her family to Qatar.
Each story is engrossing and powerful. All the women find themselves in circumstances they would prefer not to be in. It is a story of survival and the resilience of women. It is heartbreaking, difficult, but breathtaking. Mo Ogrodnik is an incredible writer. I am so grateful to have been given the opportunity to read and review this book. Many thanks to NetGalley and S&S

This book has crazy interesting views on how women are treated all over the world and how lucky as an American I actually am. This was a powerful read and I will hold the message dear.

The premise of the book was strong but some POVs were definitely stronger than others. It almost seemed like the author was trying to get across the message that women were all villians if put in the right context. Some of the passages were hard to read. But if an author can elicit that reaction I think its a testament to their writing.

A beautifully written tragic novel about five diverse women living in the Gulf with tendrils that connect them. Flora loses almost everything in a horrible storm in her native Philippines and so opts to take a job in Saudi Arabia where she's assigned to Dounia, a new mother who is miserable with her life and struggling with post partum depression. Zeinah's father arranges a marriage to a Jihadi in an effort to keep the family safe in Raffah. She joins the female morality police first to occupy her time but then becomes one of them. Justine, an American art curator who has been hired to stage an exhibit about falcons, is struggling in her marriage and then a split second decision changes everything when she rescues Eskedare, a young woman from Ethiopia, from the middle of the road. This amps up- the tension in each woman's life rises and you'll feel. It might seem like a simple story (or five stories) when you begin but this is layered and thoughtful in a way you might not expect. It was a page turner for me as I cared about each woman, even Dounia who spins into, well, no spoilers. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This is a terrific read and one more than worthy of your time and attention.

The characters were completely unique and utterly captivating. Many had challenging stories to read but it was so well written. With all the small chapters of the different characters, it made the compelling stories easy to fly through!

As American women whose rights are being attacked, we sometimes forget how many women in the Gulf region are being abused, threatened, repressed and denied ownership of their bodies. Mo Ogrodnik does an excellent job of describing the lives of five women in the region, their travails and their hopes in trying to move forward and escape the trauma and injustice in their lives.

Flora, a Filipina, trying to escape an unfathomable experience, signs a two-year contract to work in Saudi Arabia as a maid and nanny, hoping to provide for a daughter she left behind. She finds herself working for Dounia, pregnant and living with her husband and mother -in-law. Dounia becomes paranoid and Flora becomes the object of her wrath. Zeniah, a Syrian, was forced, by her parents, into a marriage with an ISIS jihadist. The parents then reviled her. Justine, an American museum curator, observes the double standard but believes it has nothing to do with her. The final main character is Eskedare, a young teen, who has her first period. She flees Ethiopia to escape an arranged marriage and we go on her journey with her.

The plight of these women lay waste to any conceived notions of respect or positive treatment of them. Even living in the lap of luxury does not protect them. It is a battle for survival and finding ways to circumvent the power of the male, the government, and the religious dogma inbred in the culture. The writing never shirks from delivering a powerful depiction of life, emotions and heart of these women. It is okay to cry!

Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for this ARC.

Gulf follows the lives of five women from different cultures and classes whose lives converge in Saudi Arabia.

I don’t know if I particularly liked this, but perhaps that’s the point? Looking into the eye of the female condition and treatment of women around the world isn’t a particularly good feeling.
But at the same, when almost every character was so unlikable I found myself wanting to put the book down. At one point I wondered if the moral question being posed was asking if women become monsters when suffocated under the patriarchy, or if at the end of it, women are inherently bad and that’s why we have the patriarchy to have someone to watch over them. It felt bleak, and I don’t know if that was the effect that I was supposed to walk away with.

I will say, I went into this not knowing anything about the kafala system, and this was a great introduction to the injustice of the treatment of the women in these positions.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster for access to this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

So powerful and surprisingly dark. An unexpected deep and intimate dive into the lives of several women around the Arabian Gulf. Though the circumstances of their lives were all very different than my own, the author did an amazing job making them all relatable as women and humans. This did get much darker than I was expecting but that is the honest look into another side of the world and life.
Each character's chapter was written so differently: Eskedare very poetic and beautifully tragic, Justine raw and a difficult look at her role in her privilege/the rest of the world, Flora the struggle between providing and giving up freedom...

A story about women rebelling about the cards dealt to them. These stories are not for the faint of heart, but you will not be able to look away.

We follow Justine, Eskedare, Flora, Zeinah and Dounia, who are very different from each other, but their lives get intertwined as they navigate life in the Gulf.

If you love stories about the power of the human spirit, and especially the resilience of women, read this!

I loved this book. I love the womanhood, the things women have to deal with and struggle with, the women's intuition, and the power of sisterhood. I think it was very well written and it kept me entertained and engaged.

Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complimentary ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!

This book is very heavy and there should be trigger warnings for those to need them. this book was extremely well written and told from 5 different female perspectives. The stories are woven together beautifully. Not my usual read but a good book none the less.

Truly beautiful literary writing. I loved each unique woman’s perspective and did not have trouble with the large cast of characters- they are all different enough.. Triggers abound so read the synopsis carefully.