Bird Summons

November 4, 2019
Aboulela’s impressive latest (after Elsewhere, Home) follows three Muslim women as they travel through the Scottish Highlands. Moni, a former banker, is the mother of Adam, a five-year-old with severe cerebral palsy. Her devotion to him has driven a wedge between her and her husband, Murtada, who’s pressuring her and Adam to join him in Saudi Arabia. Iman is on her third doomed marriage; she was brought to Britain from war-torn Syria by her second husband. Having lived her entire adult life as someone’s wife, she looks up to independent Salma, the de facto leader of the group, who’s a successful massage therapist and has a Scottish husband and four children. Recent social media overtures from Salma’s college ex back in Egypt, meanwhile, have left her questioning what could have been. The three women set out on a weeklong trip to the grave of Lady Evelyn Cobbold, the first British woman to perform the pilgrimage to Mecca. After they arrive at their cabin, they receive spectral visitations: a healthy young boy who makes Moni think of her son, a runner Salma begins to believe is her ex, and the Hoopoe, a mythical bird, for Iman. There’s a not-entirely-successful vein of magical realism, but readers will root for Aboulela’s well-drawn cast as they reconcile their desires with their faiths and the obligations of their everyday lives. Aboulela’s novel is empathetic and insightful, offering a nuanced representation of the three characters through a blend of Islamic faith and Scottish folklore.

December 1, 2019
Three members of a British Muslim women's group travel north to the Scottish Highlands, where their individual preoccupations turn increasingly surreal, leading them to redefine their attitudes and their futures. Talking birds, phantom children, and physical metamorphoses are just a few of the surprises in this latest novel from an Egyptian-born writer who has previously used a more realistic style to explore the dilemmas of Muslim women often stranded between cultures. Aboulela (Elsewhere, Home, 2019, etc.) does begin her new work in recognizable territory, depicting a trio of friends who share a religion and immigrant background, but gradually proceedings shift into a more fantastical place. Salma, married to Muslim-convert David and mother to four British children, has enjoyed the most freedom, yet she fantasizes about the life she might have had in Egypt and is enjoying a risky phone dialogue with Amir, the man she didn't marry. Moni is neglecting and endangering her marriage by devoting herself exclusively to the care of her son, Adam, who has cerebral palsy. Iman, youngest and prettiest of the three, yearns for a child but has just been rejected by her third husband and is now homeless. During a week together in a remote loch-side cottage, the women pursue private paths: Iman wears peculiar costumes and communes with a fable-sprouting Hoopoe, a sacred bird; Moni befriends a silent child who suddenly begins to grow alarmingly, like Alice in Wonderland; and Salma chases Amir through the woods. All three suffer painful physical alterations and journey through testing landscapes, but their friendship, previously fraying, helps sustain them until the Hoopoe leads them back. Aboulela's exploration of the women's problems of choice, faith, and commitment are as immersive as ever, but her dreamscapes, while imaginative and disconcerting, seem to sit oddly, at one didactic remove from the story. Split between two different narrative modes, Aboulela's latest is both engaging and perplexing.

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Starred review from January 1, 2020
The spiritual journey trope is engagingly executed in Aboulela's (Elsewhere, Home, 2019) new novel, which starts as realistic fiction, then meanders into magic realism. Once again, her ability to sensitively portray the inner-outer lives of Muslim immigrant women in Scotland shines as she portrays three friends. Salma, Moni, and Iman, members of the Arabic Speaking Muslim Women's Group, head to the Scottish Highlands to visit the grave of Lady Evelyn Cobbold, who was the first British woman to make the holy pilgrimage to Mecca. Although each woman comes from a different country and is in a vastly different life situation, their shared faith propels them, and they each end up exploring individual choices while coming to terms with the complicated dynamics of supportive sisterhood. Salma takes guilty pleasure in her renewed contact with an old flame from Egypt. Moni feels conflicted as both a dutiful wife and a mother to a son with cerebral palsy. Iman is realizing that her beauty will not lead to security. Each well-developed plot line deepens characterization, while Aboulela's interweaving of Muslim and Celtic fables via the sacred hoopoe bird, adds another dimension to the story and offers a sense of connection between the two traditions and the past and present.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

February 1, 2020

Three Muslim Scottish women go on a pilgrimage to visit the estate and grave of Lady Evelyn Cobbald, a Scottish noblewoman who converted to Islam in the early 20th century. Each woman is facing a personal crisis, and the differences among their personalities and outlooks cause their relationship to fray over the week they spend in close quarters. The driven and domineering Salma, married to a Scottish convert and the mother of four, reconnects online with a suitor she rejected in Egypt as a young woman. Moni resists her husband's pleas to join him in Saudi Arabia, favoring her all-consuming devotion to caring for her severely disabled son. Beautiful Iman has just been abandoned by her third husband. Strange occurrences in and around the cottage where they are staying force the women to confront their demons and choose the path forward. VERDICT Incorporating elements of magical realism and tales from both the Quran and Anglo folk traditions, this latest from Aboulela (The Kindness of Enemies) is a strange mix of domestic realism and fantasy/allegory. The supernatural aspects start out subtly and almost unnoticeably but begin to take over in the book's last third, which makes the conclusion a bit heavy-handed if intriguing. [See Prepub Alert, 8/5/19.]--Christine DeZelar-Tiedman, Univ. of Minnesota Libs., Minneapolis

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2019

Three friends from a local Muslim women's group travel to the Scottish Highlands with troubles on their minds. Happily married Salma dreams of an old lover in Egypt who's just contacted her. Moni has abandoned her banking career for the sake of a disabled son. And Iman, on her third marriage though she hasn't reached 30, just wants some autonomy. Sacred in both Muslim and Celtic literature, a hoopee wings its way down to help. From the Scotland-based Sudanese winner of multiple awards, e.g., the Saltire Fiction Prize for last year's Elsewhere, Home.

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.