Finding Amal - by Firyal Alshalabi (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Finding Amal is a literary novel that seeks to empower young Muslim women grappling with societal conventions to a new stimulating intellectual level. It is a unique coming-of-age story that reveals the relationship between Islam and the West throughout the last few centuries in an entertaining, yet thought-provoking way. Hadeel, a young devout Muslim woman from Kuwait, embarks on a secret journey to America to save her Aunt Amal's soul from Hell. In Boulder, Colorado, she meets Jonathan, her aunt's grieving husband for the first time. Jonathan, who asked Hadeel to visit, is hoping she'd clear her aunt's name from defamation, and reclaim the copyright to a literary discovery related to Washington Irving, Percy Shelley, and the nineteenth-century British Poet Laureate Robert Southey.,
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Review Quotes

"This is a beautiful novel! In Finding Amal, Firyal Alshalabi writes beautifully and poignantly about family and the secrets that tear us apart and, ultimately, put us back together again. An impressive debut!" --Ann Hood, New York Times best-selling author of The Knitting Circle and The Book That Matters Most

"This is a brilliant debut novel that is bold yet empathetic, angry yet written with a notable fervor and candor, and above all an exquisite work that is both original and erudite. Firyal Alshalabi admirably succeeds in taking the now-common trope of empowered Muslim girls grappling with societal conventions to a new, intellectually stimulating level. She elevates the narrative to a higher platform by seamlessly integrating Arab cultural legacy into a global discourse. Her adept engagement involves an interchange with Western thought and practice, extending an invitation to prominent literary figures such as Irving, Shelley, Southey, and Mary Wollstonecraft. A tour de force, indeed." --Professor Layla Almaleh, author of Arab Voices in Diaspora

"I love this novel, the themes, the characters, and the way the author developed both. This is a captivating tale of family and love that shows how the deep wisdom of Islam can affirm and enrich a modern woman's journey of independence. It's a piece of Islamic culture and history told in a unique and engaging way, so important for Americans and Europeans to hear." --Nancy Kilgore, author of Wild Mountain and Bitter Magic

"...The novel's narrative explores how, following Hadeel's arrival and in a number of environments and social encounters, she confronts and gradually adapts to the vast cultural chasm that separates traditional Islamic Kuwaiti society from that of a university city in midwestern America. . . . Henry James notes that novels often end with the awarding of prizes. Hadeel has certainly earned her fair share. A pleasure read, indeed!" --Roger Allen, Sascha Jane Patterson Harvie Professor Emeritus of Social Thought and Comparative Ethics, School of Arts Sciences; Professor Emeritus of Arabic Comparative Literature. University of Pennsylvania

"[A] poignant story of secrets and growth by a first-time novelist. . . . Finding Amal is a valuable look into the life of a contemporary Islamic woman." --Sandra Dallas, The Denver Post

"Finding Amal, deals with the theme of understanding Islam and bridging cultures. Her writing focuses on the dilemmas faced by a religious Muslim girl, Hadeel, who goes on a secret mission to the US to save her Aunt Amal's soul. As so often happens, it turns out she needs to save her own soul. . . . Alshalabi has created a literary work that is both specific and universal at the same time. The questions Hadeel faces are the same we all face at some time in our lives. She reconciles divergent points of view. Her reconciliation brings hope and revives an old passion she tried to bury under family obligations. This unique coming-of-age story reveals the relationship between the West and Islam in an entertaining, thought-provoking way." --Sam Drexler, The Kuwait Times

About the Author

Firyal Alshalabi taught at Kuwait University for many years before dedicating her time to writing and searching ways to encourage young people to read. Her first two children's books in Arabic were immediate successes in Kuwait. After the first Gulf War, Firyal wrote Summer 1990, a YA novel about the invasion and occupation of Kuwait by Iraq. Several of her short stories have appeared in American university and literary journals. Most of her writings deal with the environment and caring for the less fortunate. Finding Amal is her first adult novel-- her theme of understanding Islam continues.