Minaret

Leila Aboulela's American debut is a provocative, timely, and engaging audiobook about a young Muslim woman - once privileged and secular in her native land and now impoverished in London - gradually embracing her orthodox faith. With her Muslim hijab and downturned gaze, Najwa is invisible to most eyes, especially to the rich families whose houses she cleans in London. Twenty years ago, Najwa, then at university in Khartoum, would never have imagined that one day she would be a maid. An upper-class Westernized Sudanese, her dreams were to marry well and raise a family. But a coup forces the young woman and her family into political exile in London. Soon orphaned, she finds solace and companionship within the Muslim community. Then Najwa meets Tamer, the intense, lonely younger brother of her employer. They find a common bond in faith and slowly, silently, begin to fall in love.

Written with directness and force, Minaret is a lyric and insightful audiobook about Islam and an alluring glimpse into a culture Westerners are only just beginning to understand.

©2005 Leila Aboulela. Recorded by arrangement with Grove/Atlantic, Inc. (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Came for the story, stayed for the narration.

A somewhat slow story, never really catching my attention aside from a couple of times. What was most enjoyable was listening to Lameece Issaq, very relaxing!