What happens after we fall in love with someone? When the excitement has softened into comfort? When that giddiness melds into familiarity and the butterflies have flown away? How does one describe the feeling of loving someone and continuing to love them? This story dares to answer these questions. At first glance, The Lovers is merely about a couple who fall in love and the events that follow. Delve a little deeper, however, and you’ll find this is not your everyday love story.

Written in the form of a modern-day fable, The Lovers tackles that most intimate and universal feeling: love. Author Yumna Kassab’s third book is written in short and concise chapters that flow quickly and poetically. Told from the perspective of our titular lovers, Jamila and Amir, the novel delves into the raw and honest moments in a relationship, not shying away from the challenges posed by family expectations, cultural barriers, differences in class and the sadness of a love that might not last. Kassab has the unique ability to transport you into the very heart of a character’s story and guide you through their most intimate feelings of love, fear, yearning and insecurity. She manages to capture and articulate the private thoughts that maybe we all encounter in a relationship.

Finishing The Lovers was a bittersweet experience. On one hand, I wanted to continue with these characters and see where their journeys would end. On the other, I was left with a sense of contentment and understanding that stayed with me long after I had turned the final page. This story is raw and beautiful; if you want your heart to be tugged in multiple directions or to be overwhelmed with many emotions, then I suggest you start reading it now.

Vasilia Nerouppos is from Readings Emporium.