The novel addresses the challenges of being a Muslim in the United
States. Though the family is not
religious, they encounter discrimination regularly. Afaf “tried hard her whole life to be like
amarkan, only to be rejected and used.”
After 9/11, Muslims went “from towel-heads
to terrorists” and Afaf is concerned
about her safety and that of her family.
Of course the attack on the school emphasizes the dangers Muslims
face.
In many ways, the book is a journey of self-discovery. Afaf is largely estranged from her family
after a tragedy. Her father finds solace
in alcohol. Her unhappy mother, who has
never adapted to life in America and wants to return to Palestine, suffers from
mental health problems and seems unable to connect with Afaf. Because she is not accepted by her peers at school,
she desperately longs for love and attention.
After a traumatic near-death accident, Baba finds comfort in Islam and
he urges his children to go with him to the Islamic Community Center. There Afaf finds acceptance. “a sense of
community; the first time, really, she’d felt she truly belonged anywhere.”
Included in the novel are many details about Arab culture and the
Islamic faith. Arabic food is often
mentioned; I wish there were an appendix with recipes for the various dishes
that are mentioned but not explained, dishes like “mahshi koosa” and “maklooba”
and “chicken musakhan” and “fatayir”. I
knew about the Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca to fulfill one of the sacred
pillars of Islam, but I was unaware of the various rituals performed, other
than walking around the Kaaba.
At one point Afaf decides she will wear a hijab. From a woman’s perspective, I found her
decision an interesting one. “Beneath
the hijab, it’s still her. And yet a
great deal of Afaf is gone, hidden, never to be revealed again in public, and
then only in the presence of women. A
pang of something tragically permanent goes through her gut.” She realizes the hijab comes with a
price: “Is this concealment a high price
to pay for her submission to God? She’ll
no longer feel the Illinois winter rushing through her hair, tingling her ears
as she leaves the apartment. Or the sun
beating down on her head when she goes for walks with Baba along the
waterfront, her scalp warm and moist with sweat. Afaf will miss her hair, the way it completes
her face.” She is also aware of how
Americans will think: “And what of her hijab? Do they imagine Afaf’s father or brother,
swarthy and dangerous men, had forced it on her? Behind her back do they whisper, Poor Afaf, another oppressed Arabian woman?"
There are two elements in the novel which left me unsatisfied. One is Nada’s storyline. Nada, Afaf’s older sister, deals with the family
situation differently than Afaf, but her story is not sufficiently
developed. The other weak element is the
perspective of the shooter. He seems
little more than a stock character: a white
man radicalized by online alt-right sites.
This is a timely novel which offers an interesting perspective, a
perspective that might give people pause to think.
Note: I received a digital
galley from the publisher via NetGalley.
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