A review by tasmanian_bibliophile
Brother Alive by Zain Khalid

3.0

‘Your grandfather knows memory is often a lie, sealed with the hot wax of repetition.’ 

From the publisher’s blurb: 

‘In 1990, three boys are born, unrelated but intertwined by circumstance: Dayo, Iseul, and Youssef. They are adopted as infants and live in a shared bedroom perched atop a mosque in one of Staten Island’s most diverse and precarious neighborhoods, Coolidge. The three boys are an inseparable if conspicuous trio: Dayo is of Nigerian origin, Iseul is Korean, and Youssef indeterminately Middle Eastern. Nevertheless, Youssef is keeping a secret: he sees a hallucinatory double, an imaginary friend who seems absolutely real, a shapeshifting familiar he calls Brother. 

The boys’ adoptive father, Imam Salim, is known for his radical sermons, but at home he is often absent, spending long evenings in his study with whiskey-laced coffee, writing letters to his former compatriots back in Saudi Arabia. Like Youssef, he too has secrets, including the cause of his failing health and the truth about what happened to the boys’ parents. When Imam Salim’s path takes him back to Saudi Arabia, the boys will be forced to follow. There they will be captivated by an opulent, almost futuristic world, a linear city that seems to offer a more sustainable modernity than that of the West. But they will have to change if they want to survive in this new world, and the arrival of a creature as powerful as Brother will not go unnoticed.’ 

Yes, there is a lot happening in this novel. The story unfolds over three parts. Part 1 ‘Spirit of America’ focusses on the boys’ childhood and their relationship with Iman Salim. Youssef is our narrator, and he brings the boys and their surroundings to life. Initially I found Brother confusing, but as the story unfolded, I became accustomed to his presence. Sort of. 

‘I have kept your history from you for so long, there is a chance you might see it as part of an orchestration.’ 

I wanted to know more about Iman Salim, and in Part 2 ‘The Barbarians’ he recounts his life in Saudi Arabia and how he came to adopt Dayo, Iseul, and Youssef. Iman Salim is a complex character and, while I occasionally felt sympathy for him, I found it difficult to care for him. Life is full of difficult choices. 

‘Boys, terror is fear that overwhelms the mind.’ 

In Part 3 ‘The Reunion of Broken Parts’, Imam Salim has returned to Saudi Arabia. Dayo, Iseul and Youssef, all adults now, journey there. This is a futuristic Saudi Arabia, one full of both innovation and dark secrets, a dystopia which I can imagine and accept. 

‘The world is full of family you don’t know.’ 

If you are looking for a neat linear narrative, look elsewhere. This is a complex novel which raises several issues including family, guilt, sexuality, and control by the state. While it has elements of both dystopia and science fiction, it does not neatly belong to either category.  

Worth reading. 
 

Jennifer Cameron-Smith