Minaret [Library Binding]

Leila Aboulela (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2005 | ISBN-10: 1417697644 | ISBN-13: 978-1417697649

In her Muslim hijab, with her down-turned gaze, Najwa is invisible to most eyes, especially to the rich families whose houses she cleans. Twenty years ago, Najwa, then at university in Khartoum, would never have imagined that one day she would be a maid. An upper class westernised Sudanese, her dreams were to marry well and raise a family. Then a coup forces the young woman and her family into political exile in London. The years that follow hold more trials for Najwa and the realization that she has come down in the world. But she finds solace - in her visits to the Regents Park Mosque, the companionship among the Muslims she meets there and strength in the hijab she adopts. Her dreams of love may have shattered but her awakening to Islam has given her a different peace. Then Najwa meets Tamer, the intense, lonely younger brother of her employer. They find a common bond in faith and slowly, silently, begin to fall in love

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Aboulela's U.S. debut is written in the voice of Najwa, an upper-class Sudanese woman, and covers, episodically, 20 years of her life. A Khartoum teen, Najwa flees to London with her mother and brother when the coup of 1985 leads to her father's arrest and execution. With her mother soon dead and her brother in jail on drug charges, Najwa attempts to negotiate work, love and the ways they get twisted around emigré politics—and religion. An affair begun in Khartoum with devout, politically engaged, working-class fellow émigré Anwar is threaded in with a later one with Tamer, the contentiously devout, college-age son of the family for which Najwa works as a nanny when in her 30s. The denouements of the two relationships, though separated by more than 10 years, come one after the other; both lead, painfully, to a deepening of Najwa's religious faith. Aboulela was raised in Khartoum and now divides her time between Dubai and Aberdeen, Scotland; a novel (The Translator) and short story collection (Colored Lights) were previously published in the U.K. Aside from some stilted dialogue, she draws Najwa's odyssey of exile, loss and found faith beautifully.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School–The daughter of a wealthy government official, Najwa grows up pampered and carefree in western Sudan during the 1980s. With her 19th birthday, though, comes the overthrow of the president and arrest of her father by the new government. Najwa; her twin brother, Omar; and their mother flee to London. Within a few years, she is completely alone: her father has been executed, her mother succumbs to a fatal illness, and Omar is in prison for an assault conviction stemming from his drug abuse. Once a fashionable university student in Khartoum, the young woman makes ends meet as a nanny to a wealthy Arab family. Clothed in traditional Muslim hijab, she has suddenly become invisible within the city, much as the Ethiopian servants used to blend into the background in her parents household. Yet even as she comes to terms with this anonymity, a spark develops between her and the younger brother of her employer, and she is forced to confront the chasm between servant and master. Aboulela offers a captivating glimpse into one womans journey through the various strata of society. The protagonists experiences give her a deeper reliance on her faith and help her to recognize the shallowness of the life she left behind. This is the authors first work to be published in the U.S. Students will appreciate the story not only for its insights into Muslim faith and traditions, but also for the ways her compellingly real characters relate to one another.–Kim Dare, Fairfax County Public Library System, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Library Binding
• Publisher: San Val (September 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1417697644
• ISBN-13: 978-1417697649
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Leila Aboulela won the first Caine Prize for African Writing. Her new novel Lyrics Alley is set in 1950s Sudan and is inspired by the life of her uncle, the poet Hassan Awad Aboulela, who wrote the lyrics for many popular Sudanese songs. Leila is the author of two other novels: The Translator, one of The New York Times 100 Notable Books of the Year, and Minaret- both long-listed for the Orange Prize and IMPAC Dublin Award. Leila's work has been translated into twelve languages and included in publications such as Granta, The Washington Post and the Virginia Quarterly Review. She grew up in Khartoum and now lives in Doha.
For more info visit www.leila-aboulela.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Read, October 9, 2005

By 

Angee (Ozone Park, New York United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Minaret: A Novel (Paperback)

I was captivated by this novel from beginning to end. As a Muslim and a woman I really related to the character Najwa. Her gradual tansformation from a spoiled, somewhat shallow teen, to a pensive, observant Muslim is a pleasure to observe. This story is fictional, but the message is definitely real and it's something that could affect anyone. Najwa loses everything and hits rock bottom, but through faith in God, she's able to gain strength and not lose hope. This novel was wholly entertaining and superbly written. The characters were well developed, especially the despicable Anwar, one of Najwa's chief antagonists. I would recommend Minaret to anyone, especially Muslim women. I look forward to Aboulela's future novels.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A story to savor, November 21, 2005

By 

safffron - See all my reviews

This review is from: Minaret: A Novel (Paperback)

This is a novel to both devour and savor. As a white American woman, I was allowed to briefly pass through a doorway into a culture I know little about. Aboulela's tale is one of exile and rebirth. Her character, Najwa is a woman who loves family and has nearly lost them all. As the story progresses, the Westerner in me sometimes saw her as being foolishly self sacrificing, yet I couldn't deny the beauty and redemption the character finds as she joins the women at the mosque. Ultimately, Najwa sacrifices two loves -- one for her own good and one for the greater good of another.

I was particularly struck by the passage wherein Najwa has adopted more traditional attire and walks by the construction site where she had been whistled at earlier when she was dressed in Western clothes. Ironically, the men now pay no attention to her and she experiences a sense of liberation.

A wonderful and thoughtful read.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One Woman's Story, August 4, 2006

By 

Serki Trees (Crazytown!) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Minaret: A Novel (Paperback)

This book isn't about "fundamentalist" Islam, or women in Islam, or why people convert, or why a woman would wear a scarf on her head. This is not a book about "the Muslims." It is not about theology or Islamic law. Beyond that, no single author or book -- or worse, fictional character -- can speak for all Muslims at all times. This book doesn't even speak for all converts or returnees, all Muslim women, or all Sudanese Muslim women. It isn't fair to the author, Leila Aboulela, to the character, or to Muslims in general for non-Muslim readers to expect that this book will answer their questions about Islam and Muslims.

This is a book about one woman -- Najwa -- dealing with loss: the loss of her family, her home, her status, her country, and her sense of self. The only time "Islam" comes into play here is that it is with her faith that Najwa finds some answers for herself. The book doesn't bash you over the head with Islam. Any Christian, Jew, Buddhist, etc. who has found their own sense of peace through their faith will relate to Najwa.