Product Description

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

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #213584 in Books
• Published on: 2005-06-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 288 pages

Review
Praise for The Translator: 'A story of love and faith all the more moving for the restraint with which it is written' J. M. Coetzee 'A novel that tries to give Muslims their due Aboulela shows the rich possibilities of living in the West with different, non-Western, ways of knowing and thinking' Sunday Herald Praise for Coloured Lights: 'Moving, gentle, ironic, quietly angry and beautifully written' Ben Okri 'This is the modern female voice fresh, diverse, challenging, uninhibited' Rachel Cusk

Observer
‘Timely, well-written and, in the end, asks us to think seriously and sympathetically about Muslim identity’

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‘Written with sensitivity and grace, Minaret is an unsensational but gripping story of one woman’s spiritual awakening’

Customer Reviews

Excellent
An excellent novel.

She writes about muslims in the west in such an honest way that is lacking in other novels. She speaks about practicing and non- practicing muslims in a way that is neither degrading nor glorifying. She speaks about them simply as humans. She talks about their struggles, their sins, and their desires.

She describes the details of the place, time, heart, and mind to a degree that makes you feel that you are touching, hearing, seeing, and smelling and not just reading.

Insightful, emotional and beautifully human
Once again Leila Aboulela manages to masterfully delve ever so delicately into the emotional innards of a woman throughout the varied ups and downs of her life. From a life of privelege in Khartoum to the drugery and changes of political asylum in the UK, our trip with Najwa (the main protagonist) not only familiarises her to the readership, it also sheds light on many aspects of Khartoum's societal life during various phases.
The transformation and changes that accompany the active practice of the Islamic faith by Najwa in exile, and the role that Islam plays in the life of Tamer (a protagonist)are both explored against a constant backdrop of human and cultural discord. Leila Aboulela communicates this in a genuine and almost tactile manner that few other authors of this genre manage.
Minaret takes its readers on a voyage to Khartoum and London. It also takes its readers on a universal trip that is insightful, emotional and beautifully human.

Interesting but challenging
A really interesting story about a young girl who moves from a wealthy, priviledged life in Sudan, to an impoverished and lonely life in London. Her hardship and a broken heart, lead her to embrace Islam. I was fascinated by the way the lead character seemed to retreat behind her veil and how, once veiled, her maturity seemed to be arrested at that stage, so that she lived largely in a fantasy world, falling for an utterly unattainable man.

Her female friends in the mosque help to ground her and provide much needed warmth; I loved the easy description of her relationahip with her friend there, but ultimately that very sensible, kind woman serves to point up unreality of the heroine's world.

An insightful study of an intelligent, but damaged, young woman.