A review by siria
Minaret by Leila Aboulela

2.0

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 that coupled with somewhat opaque character development made Minaret an unsatisfying read.