Book Review:

Scheduled for Publication January 2012

“Hayat Shah was captivated by Mina long before he met her: his mother’s beautiful, brilliant, and soulfully devout friend is a family legend. When he learns that Mina is leaving Pakistan to live with the Shahs in America, Hayat is thrilled.

Hayat’s father is less enthusiastic. He left the fundamentalist world behind with reason. What no one expects is that when Mina shows Hayat the beauty and power of the Quran, it will utterly transform the boy.

Mina’s real magic may be that the Shah household, always contentious and sad, becomes a happy one. But when Mina finds her own path to happiness, the ember of jealousy in Hayat’s heart is enflamed by the community’s anti-Semitism-and he acts with catastrophic consequences for those he loves most.”

Book Review:  ★★★★★★

This is a powerful story that gives insight to the unique make up of the American society — while at the same time looking at that the myriad cultures that make up that society and present not only a strong cultural base, but also the source of much of the volatility that originates through these same origins.  This story has the same powerful impact as  The Kite Runner, and the pure and innocent voice comparable to that of To Kill a Mockingbird.

One of the original aims of Akhtar is to present the reader with a window of clarification on the Muslim culture as a whole — particularly in this troubled, post 9/11 world.  And this he has achieved in amazing clarity.  The voice of Hayat, not only as the narrator of this powerful story, but also a coming of age pre-teen, Muslim boy, gives us an innocent look into this amazing culture — but due to his age, the reader is able to grow and develop through his eyes, in concert with him.  This is a powerful means of helping the reader understand what it means to step into the world of Muslim culture, and appreciate how much we have in common with Hayat’s Pakistani-American family.  I came away truly touched to see life through this character’s eyes, as it helped me see more of what unites this culture together with the rest that make up the American society, and less of what divides us as a whole.

I also gained an appreciation for not only how influential this part of the American cultural make up has been, but how vast the over all cultural make up of the American society is, as a whole.  This is something to consider, particularly in this unique society because we don’t have one cultural influence that can claim dominance over any others.  All of these influences go into defining what makes American’s who they are — but frequently we forget that these influences give us as many of our strengths as they do our differences.  Akhtar has given us a powerful story that provides a canvas for the American culture as a whole.  And his presentation is both eloquent, and powerful.  This is a book that I would think would be destined to become a modern day classic due to the insight that it gives on the American society, and the multiple cultural influences that have it has been built on — both the parts that are tearing it apart, as well as those that go into making it a truly influential people.

But I think what impressed me the most about this book was the appreciation I gained for Akhtar’s love, and passion for his cultural heritage.  Coming from a background that has a similar difficulty as that of the Muslim people in America — namely I believe in a book of scripture that modern American religious beliefs don’t generally accept as scripturally valid, provides a connection for me between my life, and Akhtar’s beliefs which are based in the Qur’an.  While this is a book that is accepted in the immediate, close knit community in which he lives — it has defined him as he has struggled to come to terms with feelings like being an outsider among other people not of his faith.  And while this can be a very defining experience — it can also be difficult to remain connected to the society he is being raised in.  In fact — the perpetuation of one of the significant differences of misunderstood beliefs that have separated my cultural background from others, was actually perpetuated through this read, but rather than find this a source of separation — I found that it helped me to more closely identify with the story he was trying to tell.

Tags: America, Family, Friendship, Historical Fiction, Love, Morality, Muslim Culture, Pakistani Culture

Category: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Philosophy, Promo Book Reviews, Religious