Minaret: A Novel
by By Aboulela, Leila
Category: Fiction , Literary

In her Muslim hijab, with her downturned gaze, Najwa is invisible to most eyes, especially to the rich families whose houses she cleans.Twenty years ago, Najwa then at university in Khartoum, would never have imagined that one day she would be a maid. An upper-class, westernised Sudanese, her dreams were to marry well and raise a family. But Najwa's days of innocence ended when a military coup forced the young woman and her family into political exile in London.The years that follow hold more trials for Najwa and she must face the fact that she has come down in the world. But she finds solace in her visits to the Regent's Park Mosque, companionship among the Muslims she meets there and strength in the hijab she adopts. Her dreams of love may have shattered but her awakening to Islam has brought her a different peace.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.Minaret is a portrait of a woman given a second chance at life, and a unique look at the life of a devout Muslim woman in England.