Book- Minaret

I will admit a prejudice I found in myself after reading Minaret, by Leila Aboulela---I am not big on books where the characters find happiness through religious conversion...whether that is Christian or Muslim, I have a hard time with that.

But despite that being a theme in Minaret, there is much that I also liked. The story of a girl who grew up in wealth, and was in a family of political power in Sudan, and is then without means as she has to emigrate to London, is fascinating and has such a ring of authenticity, that it overcame my disdain for the religious aspects of the plot.

Najwa's father was high up in the the cabinet of the president of Sudan, but a coup left him in jail, and later executed, as the family fled to their summer home in London. And suddenly, all the wealth disappeared, and Najwa, her brother and mother have to find a way to cope and live in a place where they do not feel at home. Najwa's brother gets involved in drugs, ending up in jail, and Najwa herself tries to fit in, but ultimately turns to religion.

The novel is told in alternation, with present time taking turns with flashbacks to explain how she got from there to here, and it is mainly an effective way of telling this story. Even her search for meaning at the Mosque is OK, just her ultimate decision on relying on religion, I found grating. That part felt like a religious tract.

Minaret was a good book, but had Najwa simply found a path of her own, I would had enjoyed it better.