Minaret

Najwa is a privileged teenager in Sudan, where her father works for the President and her mother has a good job. Najwa and her twin brother, Omar, are pampered. They both attend university, but neither gives it their full attention. Everything changes when a coup deposes the president and they seek exile in London. Twenty years later, Najwa is on her own, wearing the hijab, participating in women's meetings at the mosque, and working as a maid for a wealthy twenty-something woman and her younger brother. How did this transformation occur?

The novel jumps back and forth between the 1980s and the early 2000s. Islamic faith is the central theme of the novel – fundamental but not radical Islam. Najwa lost her nationality as a result of the show more coup that changed her country, and she gradually began to view herself as Muslim rather than Sudanese. Najwa's story is told in first person, and it is fascinating to view the world from her eyes. The only aspect of the book that doesn't ring quite true is Najwa's attraction to her employer's 19-year-old brother based on their shared faith. He behaved like a 19-year-old – sometimes an adult, sometimes an adolescent. It's hard to imagine a 40-year-old woman falling in love with a 19-year-old. I think it would be a good topic to discuss in a book group – what did she see in him?

I particularly enjoyed the book's London setting. I lived in London during the earlier part of the book's time frame and I could picture all the places Najwa went. I often passed the mosque in Regent's Park and it was interesting to accompany Najwa inside a place I've only seen from outside.

I'm not sure why such a reflective book was a page-turner for me, but it's a book I didn't want to put down once I started it. With its focus on the tensions between faith, family, friendships, and lifestyle, it's similar to a lot of the Christian fiction I've read, and better written than most of it. show less

I found Aboulela's description of life as a Sudanese woman struggling to make a living in London to be interesting, but Minaret was largely a morality tale. There was a hint of ambiguity in the ending which signalled that perhaps Najwa's conversion was not the only thing needed to bring her contentment, but overall this was a book in which the devout were the good guys and the atheists, or even the Muslim women who didn't want to veil, were shallow and venal. It was far too two-dimensional in its approach, far too sweeping in its generalisations (I don't think that all Muslim fundamentalist men are secretly "tender and protective with their wives", nor do I think that becoming a hijabi protects you instantly from sexual harassment), and show more that coupled with somewhat opaque character development made Minaret an unsatisfying read. show less

A well written novel revealing the life of a Sudanese exile in London and the compromises she must make as she rekindles her faith. Worth the read.

A very honest portrait of ex-Pat life in London. The rich girl turned orphan turned believer is something I have witnessed many times, and the author's insights into the many motivations of hijab wearing is refreshing. Best of all is the ending- very much a twist and completely consistent with the belief system of the central character.

The story of Najwa, a Sudanese woman exiled to London after a political coup. The book spans childhood to her mid-forties, and her deepening commitment to Islam.

The parts about her youth remind me a bit of Born Confused, the YA novel, carefree, rather culturally ignorant. The stories of her loves and her growth as a woman are aching and desolate as she becomes more and more alone. The portrayal of femininity in Islam and devoutness are compelling and powerful in ways I would not have guessed.
“These [fundamentalist] men Anwar condemned as narrow-minded and bigoted, men like Ali, were tender and protective with their wives. Anwar was clever but he would never be tender and protective.”
Mind-broadening and thought-provoking for me.

Najwa and her twin brother, Omar, lives come crashing down when there is a coup in Sudan and their father is arrested and executed. Forced into exile in London their rich pampered lives come to an end and things spiral downhill. Omar ends up in prison and Najwa drifts into a life of domestic service and gets religion after a relationship with a fellow Sudanese exile doesn't work out. Najwa seems to find contentment as a fundamentalist Muslim and domestic service. If you're into religion this may be a book for you. However I found the lives of the women, whether rich and pampered or poor and religious very narrow, focused entirely on family, children and serving men. After a while this grated and I would have liked some more complexity show more to Najwa's character. The crush she develops on the son of her employer, a spoiled and sanctimonious adolescent, and what transpires when he decides they should get married seemed far fetched. show less

Najwa, a westernized, modern Sudanese woman from a formerly rich and powerful family, is forced to watch her life fall apart and eventually becomes a maid. Finding herself with little to depend on, she begins to look on her religion in a new and much closer light, and begins to wear hijab, and finds a love interest in the similarly devote brother of her employer. As expected, the book offers some insight for those who may not understand how the Muslim religion and hijab may be empowering or helpful to women. I read this for a class, and it definitely had the most readable style of all the books we tried, fairly simple and straightforward but also engaging. A surprisingly quick read and interesting as well, however it was a little show more dissatisfying, as the main character seems incapable of really grabbing hold of or seeking out much happiness for herself. Her religion may bring her peace, but it wasn't enough for me. Perhaps it is simply my western, non-religious values? show less