The Good Muslim - by Tahmima Anam (Paperback)

About the Book

Set in Bangladesh at a time when Islamic fundamentalism ison the rise, The Good Muslim is an epic story about faith, familyand the long shadow of war. Tahmima Anam, the prize-winning author of A Golden Age, offers a moving portrait of a sister and brother whostruggle with the competing loyalties of love and belief as they cope with thelasting ravages of war and confront the deeply intimate roots of religiousextremism. Echoingthe intensity and humanity of Thrity Umrigar's The SpaceBetween Us, Abraham Verghese's Cutting for Stone, and Kiran Desai's TheInheritance of Loss, Anam's "accomplished and gripping novel," in thewords of author Pankaj Mishra, "describes not only the tumult of a greathistorical event, but also the small but heroic struggles of individuals livingin the shadow of revolution and war."

Book Synopsis

"Delicate, heart-wrenching and poetic, this is a novel of great poise and power." --Tash Aw, author of The Harmony Silk Factory

The Good Muslim is an epic story about faith, family, the rise of religious fundamentalism, and the long shadow of war from prize-winning Bangladeshi novelist Tahmima Anam.

In the dying days of a brutal civil war in Bangladesh, Sohail Haque stumbles upon an abandoned building. Inside he finds a young woman whose story will haunt him for a lifetime to come.

Almost a decade later, Sohail's sister, Maya, returns home after a long absence to find her beloved brother transformed. While Maya has stuck to her revolutionary ideals, Sohail has shunned his old life to become a charismatic religious leader. And when Sohail decides to send his son to a madrasa, the conflict between brother and sister comes to a devastating climax.

From the Back Cover

A New Yorker Best Book of the Year

In the dying days of a brutal civil war in Bangladesh, Sohail Haque stumbles upon an abandoned building. Inside he finds a young woman whose story will haunt him for a lifetime to come.

Almost a decade later, Sohail's sister, Maya, returns home after a long absence to find her beloved brother transformed. While Maya has stuck to her revolutionary ideals, Sohail has shunned his old life to become a charismatic religious leader. And when Sohail decides to send his son to a madrasa, the conflict between brother and sister comes to a devastating climax.

The Good Muslim is an epic story about faith, family, the rise of religious fundamentalism, and the long shadow of war from prizewinning Bangladeshi novelist Tahmima Anam.

Review Quotes

"Anam's fluent prose and sharp insights are at their best when the narrative strays . . . into the surreal ways in which faith and love work-and sometimes fail." -- The New Yorker

"The Good Muslim brims with gripping narrative, absorbing history and Shakespearean moral conundrums. . . . A keen examination of survival and forgiveness." -- Los Angeles Times

"Anam has an eye for culture, and for cultural dissonance. The writer's gift is to make the unfamiliar understood. The Good Muslim succeeds in doing exactly that, and doing it well." -- Denver Post

"Throughout the novel's extremes of violence and tragedy, Anam always allows the ultimate humanity of the characters to shine through." -- Kirkus Reviews

"Anam has a gift for tackling complex issues both personal and political." -- Library Journal

"Gripping and beautifully written. . . . From historical, political, and social tragedy, Anam has fashioned a mesmerizing story capturing a culture and a time." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Anam seems to be a novelist not so much luxuriating in the act of writing as in total control of it, using the right words to create her stunning story." -- Arifa Akbar, The Independent

"Anam tells a poignant, little-known story of a country often lost in the maze of global politics." -- Booklist