Early Review: A Lady Cyclist’s Guide to Kashgar
28 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment
in New Release Reviews Tags: fiction, missionary women, mother daughter relationship, muslim land, muslims, relationships, sisters, travel, women's relationships
A Lady Cyclist’s Guide to Kashgar by Suzanne Joinson (pub date 5/22/12)
“The tide had moved up the shore at an incredible rate and with the sound of shingle dragging up, and drragging down, taking away with it all the lies she had been told as a child. . .”
Now that summer is fast approaching, this is a great book to read for the season. Full of exotic travel, interesting characters, and excellent writing, it’s a summer read with substance.
A Lady Cyclist’s Guide to Kashgar is an inter-generational drama about love, loss, and betrayal, peppered with the intrigue and danger of the mysterious Far East. In 1923, sisters Evangeline and Lizzie are on a missionary journey in the Turkish city of Kashgar. Led by the matronly figure Millicent, the ladies are spreading the Gospel in a land mostly populated by Muslims, while Evangeline takes notes for the travel guide she is planning to write. When the trio finds themselves the subjects of a local dispute, their lives quickly change in ways they never thought possible.
The 1923 story alternates with a story set in present-day London. Freida Blakeman is a world-weary young woman about to embark on a journey of self-discovery. She is aided by Tayeb, a Yemeni national living illegally in England, whom she recently befriended. Slowly, the connection between the alternating plots is revealed.
This is a rich book, touched with sadness yet still full of hope. The story sucks you in from the first page, and is well written throughout. I enjoyed the contrast between the two stories, not just in the settings, but in the situation the characters find themselves in. Evangeline, Lizzie, and Millicent are three British women in a foreign and sometimes hostile Muslim land, while Tayeb is a Muslim in England, a land foreign and sometimes hostile to him. And while the three missionary women face mainly external conflict, Freida’s conflict is all within herself. It’s s story about finding your roots, and about making your own destiny.
This is a great book for anyone who enjoys literary fiction, or stories about women’s relationships. A nice debut novel from a promising new writer.
Early Review: The Ruins of Us
15 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in New Release Reviews Tags: fiction, islam, marriage, muslims, polygamy, saudi arabia
The Ruins of Us by Keija Parssinen (pub date 1/17/12)
What would you be willing to do to marry someone from another culture? Imagine changing your religion, learning a new language, and moving to another continent to be with the person you love.
The Ruins of Us is about a woman who has done just that. Rosalie is a beautiful American, born in Texas, who is married to a sheik named Abdullah. Rosalie left her life behind to live with Abdullah in Saudi Arabia, and quickly adapted to Saudi culture. She converted to Islam, learned Arabic, and dressed and acted as was expected of the women in Abdullah’s country. Together they raised two children, and enjoy the life of luxury that Abdullah’s wealth has provided. But Rosalie’s illusions of a happy life are quickly shattered when she inadvertently learns that Abdullah has taken a second wife, and had been keeping his other marriage a secret for two years.
Shaken and angry, Rosalie starts to reconsider her life with Abdullah and her place in Saudi culture. What is interesting about the book is that it also considers Abdullah’s perspective on the marriage. He is shown as a man who cares deeply for his wife, yet finds himself yearning for the person she was before they were married. It is an interesting paradox to think that he fell in love with Rosalie because she was not like Saudi women, while knowing deep down that she would have to adapt to Saudi culture in order to be accepted by his family, and later resenting her for it.
The turmoil in Rosalie and Abdullah’s marriage makes them too preoccupied to see its effects on their teenage children. Their daughter Mariam years to be a more modern woman, and begins pushing the boundaries of acceptable behavior for girls at her school. Their son Faisal takes the opposite approach; he falls in with a group of radical Muslim fundamentalists, and comes to hate his own American heritage.
This is a powerful debut novel. The characters are bold and dynamic. It is interesting to contemplate Rosalie’s character, a woman who prides herself on her independence and spirit, yet who chose to live in a country where she is not legally permitted to drive a car. Abdullah is not entirely unsympathetic; he loves his wife but is conflicted by what is acceptable in his culture and how it affects his marriage. This is a story about love and loyalty that is both well written and engaging. It’s a relevant and entertaining read from a great new author!
Early Review: The Submission
12 Jul 2011 Leave a Comment
in New Release Reviews Tags: 9/11, fiction, ground zero, islam, memorial, muslims
The Submission by Amy Waldman (pub date 8/16/11)
“A garden is just a garden, until you decide to plant suspicion in it.”
September 11, 2001 changed our nation forever. I can still remember vividly where I was and what I was doing on that day, and the million different thoughts and feelings that went through my mind in the days and weeks that followed. Now ten years later, a book comes along that perfectly encapsulates the myriad of emotions that the American people experienced after 9/11, and how the American people can tragically turn on one another.
The Submission is a novel set just two years after 9/11. A national memorial is about the be commissioned at Ground Zero, and a jury has just selected the winning memorial design from among thousands of anonymous submissions. The chosen designer is a talented architect and a proud New Yorker. The problem? His name is Mohammad Khan, and he is a Muslim. Once word gets out that a Muslim is going to be designing the 9/11 memorial, it unleashes a maelstrom of anger, paranoia, and sorrow, of twisted truths and suspicious motives and friends turning on each other. In light of the “Ground Zero Mosque” debacle in recent years, this book is a true reflection of the time we are living in.
The characters in The Submission are real and dynamic, each believing that he/she is serving some sort of greater good in their own actions. Mohammad, who is not even a devout Muslim, just wants to see his design become a reality, and takes offense at his motives for entering the competition being questioned. Claire Burwell, a 9/11 widow and jury member, tries to do the “right thing” by supporting Mohammad but finds her opinion wavering as she is pressured by different people to withdraw Mohammad’s design. Sean Gallagher, a loudmouth whose brother was killed on 9/11 and Alyssa, a muckraking journalist, represent the sensationalism and hatemongering that often accompany a controversial issue like this. And as is bound to happen, the truth is ignored, emotion overrules reason, and people get hurt.
In my opinion, this is a book that is going to be studied in literature courses in future years. Laden with beautiful writing and powerful symbolism, this novel manages to explore all sides of the issue while still remaining tasteful and respectful of the real victims of 9/11. It should be considered not just an important post-9/11 novel, but an important American novel, period. This book transcends the surface issues of Islam, terrorism and prejudice, and becomes a story about right and wrong, while still letting the readers decide for themselves how they feel. It’s not a call to war or to peace, but a call to think for ourselves. Buy it and read it, because a lot of people are going to be talking about it.
