“Minaret is a wonderful book — readable, subtle and ambiguous, with a shocking clarity of voice. It has a coolness that comes from real skill.”
- Ali Smith, author of Hotel World
“In a narrative of complex reversals, Aboulela takes a huge risk in describing her heroine’s religious conversion and spiritual dedication. She succeeds brilliantly. This is a beautiful, daring, challenging novel.”
– Mike Phillips, The Guardian
“Harbors something remarkable beneath commonplace trappings . . . Lit up by a highly unusual sensibility and world view, so rarefied and uncompromising that it is likely to throw the reader out of kilter. . . . Her delicacy of touch is to be complimented.”
– Chandrahas Choudhury, San Francisco Chronicle
“To Western society, where bare flesh is allowed, if not encouraged, the modest attire of Muslim women has begun to be seen as somehow offensive. In this engaging novel, Aboulela argues against this unfair and socially determined position by detailing the emotional growth of a Muslim woman, Najwa. In the Seventies, she lived in Sudan, a faithless daughter of a powerful politician. But her life changes when her father is killed in a coup and she is forced into exile. In London, Najwa feels rootless and alone, her emerging identity stunted by the sudden exile. To her surprise, she is drawn towards Islam, finding strength in other Muslim women and an identity in their dress and in their manner. This is not a straightforward story but is timely, well-written and, in the end, asks us to think seriously and sympathetically about Muslim identity.”
- Tom Williams, The Observer
“Aboulela paints a fascinating picture of intercultural strife … Aboulela has chosen a complex structure and keeps perfect control of it. Beautifully written, restrained and lyrical, Minaret is both thought-provoking and disturbing.’
- Carol Birch, The Independent
“Instead of the coming-of-age novel, we have here perhaps the beginnings of a coming-to-faith genre. The subject matter is important, and Aboulela makes an informed escort into this world’
- Literary Review
“She draws Najwa’s odyssey of exile, loss and found faith beautifully.”
- Publishers Weekly.
“This simple near-parable of a story successfully combines a tale of inexperience and cultural confusion with an insider’s view of the conflicts and complexities within the immigrant and Muslim communities. A low-key, affecting account of one bruised young woman’s search for wisdom and solace.”
- Kirkus Reviews
“Clear and precise writing, sympathetic characters, and positive portrayals of Muslim religious practices lend this elegantly crafted novel broad appeal.”
- Starr E. Smith, Library Journal
“A novel that unpacks complex emotional baggage with deceptive sleight of hand.”
- Emma Hagestadt, The Independent
“The novel deftly oscillates between past and present as Najwa struggles to gain a grip on her ‘real self’. Aboulela is finely attuned to the nuances of cultural difference and her prose glistens with details of those things that define or unmake identity. . . . Aboulela’s fidelity to her narrator’s voice, as she struggles to find a foothold in an unstable world, makes for a disconcerting portrayal of how rapidly the ground beneath one’s feet can slip away.”
- Tania Kumari, The Telegraph
“Her prose moves with the steady pace of someone who knows her faith, and knows she must not falter. . . . Often delicate and evocative.”
- Jonathan Falla, The Scotsman
“Aboulela … writes poignantly of the exile’s diminished life in the West.”
- Anderson Tepper, Vanity Fair
“Minaret is an understated reflection on belief and belonging and an authentic and moving portrait of a Muslim woman trying to make her way in modern British society. Quietly and without didacticism, it speaks of the pressures class and race exert, especially on those acutely unsure of their present place and future direction in a world increasingly intolerant of anyone outside the ever-narrowing mainstream”
- Peter Whittaker, The New Internationalist
“With Minaret, Aboulela brings a long-anticipated work of fiction. This novel is an important stitch in the growing tapestry of Western Muslim culture. Like all good art, it presents with beauty and insight the things we already think and feel. Aboulela’s achievement is impressive – a story of religious transformation that is authentic, lyrical, captivating. It explores the spiritual and political themes with which we’ve all been challenged and concludes that maybe all we want is to feel secure. “
- Raneem Azzam, Q-News The Muslim Magazine
