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A review by tasleemreads
Bird Summons by Leila Aboulela
adventurous
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I enjoyed the experience of reading this book, more light-hearted than my previous reads. This story follows 3 Arab women living in Scotland; Salma, Moni and Iman on a travel to visit Lady Evelyn (Zainab) Cobbold's grave to pay their respects. A surprising fact I didn't know, she was the first British Women to complete Hajj!
This book looks into women's lives and their personal dilemmas. Salma, although a qualified doctor in Egypt, currently works as a massage therapist, married to a Scottish revert but continues to look back at the life she used to live in Egypt. Moni, a Sudanese mother of Adam who has cerebral palsy, struggles to be anything but a mother which adds strain to all other aspects in her life. Finally Iman, a Syrian refugee, who feels burdened by her beauty and has grown up dependent on her husbands or her friends and struggles to find her own path in this foreign land.
This book started off great, the third person narrative allows us to get to know each of the characters individually and understand their perspectives. We begin to see why this friendship trio works.
The second half is where I have questions. A talking Hoopoe visits Iman in the lodge and shares stories with meaningful lessons. I initially thought this takes place in her dreams until the book takes a turn towards magical realism and, without giving away spoilers, the women are in circumstances that are not humanely possible. Whilst I appreciate the symbolism, I would have preferred reading about how the women overcame their obstacles in a realistic, relatable and mundane way.
I kept waiting for the women to wake up and realise the mint leaves Moni found in the garden to make tea was not actual mint leaves and instead had, idk intoxicated them - caused them to sleep and have vivid dreams? but this didn't happen...
I mean, a magical wardrobe that provides different costumes daily and no one has questions? My initial thought was "Who is breaking into this lodge to provide Iman with outfits?"
A quick note, as I don't want this to be too long, the men in this book were extremely questionable, all besides the White Scottish revert, David. Which is something that didn't sit well with me, the Arab men were not displayed in a good light.
Overall, it was a light read and there are takeaways from this book that I will implement in my life. The first being this quote from Salma when she was praying in nature and told the trees "Bear witness for me on the day I will need you to. On the day you will be able to speak and I will not. Say that I prayed here in this very spot and nowhere else." ✨
This book looks into women's lives and their personal dilemmas. Salma, although a qualified doctor in Egypt, currently works as a massage therapist, married to a Scottish revert but continues to look back at the life she used to live in Egypt. Moni, a Sudanese mother of Adam who has cerebral palsy, struggles to be anything but a mother which adds strain to all other aspects in her life. Finally Iman, a Syrian refugee, who feels burdened by her beauty and has grown up dependent on her husbands or her friends and struggles to find her own path in this foreign land.
This book started off great, the third person narrative allows us to get to know each of the characters individually and understand their perspectives. We begin to see why this friendship trio works.
The second half is where I have questions. A talking Hoopoe visits Iman in the lodge and shares stories with meaningful lessons. I initially thought this takes place in her dreams until the book takes a turn towards magical realism and, without giving away spoilers, the women are in circumstances that are not humanely possible. Whilst I appreciate the symbolism, I would have preferred reading about how the women overcame their obstacles in a realistic, relatable and mundane way.
I kept waiting for the women to wake up and realise the mint leaves Moni found in the garden to make tea was not actual mint leaves and instead had, idk intoxicated them - caused them to sleep and have vivid dreams? but this didn't happen...
I mean, a magical wardrobe that provides different costumes daily and no one has questions? My initial thought was "Who is breaking into this lodge to provide Iman with outfits?"
A quick note, as I don't want this to be too long, the men in this book were extremely questionable, all besides the White Scottish revert, David. Which is something that didn't sit well with me, the Arab men were not displayed in a good light.
Overall, it was a light read and there are takeaways from this book that I will implement in my life. The first being this quote from Salma when she was praying in nature and told the trees "Bear witness for me on the day I will need you to. On the day you will be able to speak and I will not. Say that I prayed here in this very spot and nowhere else." ✨