Book Review: “Painted Hands” by Jennifer Zobair

I didn’t know what to expect when I first picked up Jennifer Zobair’s debut novel, Painted Hands.

Chicklit isn’t really my thing — and it was sold to me as a “Muslim chicklit” — even though highly appraising endorsements found on the back cover call this novel, “a positive portrait of Muslim women” and an “important addition to the canon of ethnic fiction.”

I’ve never seen Sex In the City; when it comes to fiction, I’m more interested in sci-fi/fantasy, and I just wasn’t sure how much I could relate to a pair of high-flying, Prada-wearing, Boston-raised, and politically- and legally-minded “modern” Muslim characters.

Surprise! I loved it.

Within the first few pages, I was gasping in shock and gleefully gossiping with my sister-in-law over each experience, event, plot twist, and wonderfully terrible scandal as the book unfolded. As if these characters were like our own friends — and they probably could be. Zobair has not only created a collection of memorable characters, but she has also effortlessly represented almost every Muslim American community and popular media personality. It’s as if her novel presents a snapshot, a broad overview of the American Muslim community, from Muslim feminists, activists, and converts, to non-practicing Muslims, avid mosque-goers, and unruly mosque Uncles. She even name-drops a few modern famous Muslims to make the book more relatable to a present-day context.

The plot, about 30-something Muslim women trying to negotiate faith, love, and growing up in secular America while firmly routed in South Asian culture, focuses on the two main characters: Amra Abbas, a work-obsessed lawyer aiming for corporate partnership, and Zainab Mir, a fierce A-type personality with a knack for spinning strategic communications for a Republican political campaign runner. Their relationship with each other, their families and their faith are influenced by a cast of eclectic supporting characters: Mateen, Amra’s love interest and husband, struggles to balance his love for Amra with his own expectations of how a “good” Muslim wife should act; Chase Holland, a neo-con radio host and bigot who struggles after falling in love with Zainab; and Hayden Palmer, a party-girl headline stereotype who converts to Islam to spite the Muslim man who uses her for sex.

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“Snow White: An Islamic Tale” Review

Terrified screams rip through a dark forest. Ghostly eyes leer and skeletal branches attack an innocent girl as she runs from a close encounter with death — and she soon falls to the ground sobbing. Later, when several strange “little men” offer her refuge in exchange for cooking and cleaning services, a twisted old woman tricks her into eating poison and she enters a death-like state. In revenge, the men chase the old woman off a cliff and hold a wake for the poor girl. While they mourn her, a charming, handsome, prince wakes her with a kiss and she happily falls into his arms.

It’s not the Snow White I remember from my childhood, so I was pretty shocked when watching it again in preparation for this post. But then again, the only things I really remember from Disney’s 1937 movie version were the seven dwarves happily singing “Heigh-ho,” Dopey’s big ears, and the famous kiss from Prince Charming.

Both the Grimm tale and Disney’s retelling are incredibly dark — filled with death, attempted cannibalism, sorcery, deception, attempted murder, torture and in the Disney version, child molestation. No really. Disney’s Snow White is 14 years old and the kiss to wake her was totally made up just for the movie.

In my review last month of Cinderella: An Islamic Tale, I spoke a little about the problems of princess culture. Snow White was Disney’s first princess, and she set the bar pretty high for an entire industry that includes a massive amount of marketing and story-telling over the past 80 years. But the life lessons we can glean from this particular story are less than positive.

Despite my respect for Snow White as a lovely person with an awesome voice and amazing power to communicate with animals, I’m not a fan of her story’s framing — which includes teaching that it’s okay to be with a man you barely know, and who kisses you when you are incapable of giving your consent; people with different forms of dwarfism are just for comedic relief; being a damsel in distress will help you in all aspects in life; wish really hard and you’ll get everything you want without working for it; and your beauty is your only worth, as evidenced by the fact that people will either kill you or love you for it.

So yet again, I was absolutely thrilled to read Fawzia Gilani’s, Snow White: An Islamic Tale. And while this book wasn’t necessarily written as an alternative to Disney, it’s how I’ve approached it, as I know how influential princess culture can be and how important it is to have Muslim representation and alternatives in children and young adult literature. And as the author shared with me through private correspondence:

“I am acutely aware that our children live in a world where there is a hegemony of secularism and a breeding of Islamophobia. Islam is an emancipatory way of life, if we can demonstrate that through stories, I think it’s a good thing.”

 

“Cinderella: An Islamic Tale” Reviewed

Disney’s Cinderella. [Source].

Pink princess toy cameras. Pink princess wallets. Pink princess magic meal time cutlery. Pink princess backpacks, pencil cases, water bottles, golden hair extensions, and the most fabulous silver sparkle princess shoes with pink flashing lights.

After only a week in full-time school, my daughter Eryn has embraced this new world of marketing around princess culture — and even though she has never seen a Disney princess film, she can now name all of the popular princesses off by heart.

Princess culture is ubiquitous — from their original fairy tales to lego. As an empire, it’s selling a whole slew of negative gendered stereotypes, unattainable beauty ideals, and a message that a woman’s agency and action is found only through her sexualization. Even the most “brave” anti-princess princess of the Disney franchise, Merida, was at one time subjected to a sexy redesign — which was pulled after a huge backlash favouring her original bow and arrow over huge breasts and a sparkly dress. And let’s not forget the problematic Jasmine of Aladdin, our favourite Muslim princess at MMW, who not only falls victim to orientalized cultural stereotypes, but becomes a heroine by seducing the bad guy with a bare midriff, fluttery eyelids and a hawt kiss.

There is nothing wrong with children loving the colour pink or wanting to “sparkle” — but there is definitely more to life than buying into the message that vapid beauty and inaction will help little girls everywhere snag (and be saved by) a rich, hetronormative prince.

So in looking for alternatives to balance out this growing influence, and to help my daughter find positive examples of Muslim identity in the media she consumes, I was recently overjoyed to find an Islamic alternative to the classic Disney Cinderella story.

Cover of Cinderella: An Islamic Tale. [Source

Cinderella: An Islamic Tale by Fawzia Gilani-Williams is a wonderful children’s book. Set in medieval Andalusia, the classic tale receives a both religious and pro-woman retelling. The fairy Godmother is replaced by a grandmother who holds real social power and is the one who saves Cinderella. The evil, ugly stepsisters aren’t punished, but turn over a new leaf and are forgiven. They’re also not ugly or necessarily evil to begin with — softening the villainization of stepfamilies that plagues many fairy tales. The prince’s role in chasing Cinderella, after being seduced by her beauty and grace, is downplayed by the actions of the Queen — a strong character who spends the evening with Cinderella and facilitates their marriage. And what I love the most about this story is that Cinderella is recognized for her piety, patience and humble nature — and not necessarily her beauty.

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CLOSED – Toddler Tales: Review and Giveaway!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. Winners to be announced shortly.

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CLOSED: American Dervish: Giveaway Details!

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American Dervish: Book Review and Giveaway!

The months that followed were witness to a series of spiritual experiences that would remain singular in my life, all revolving around the Quran and my evening study hour with Mina. I would leave her room feeling lively, easily moved, my heart softened and sweet, my senses heightened. Often, I was too awake to sleep, and so I took to my desk—white muslin still bound to my head—to continue memorizing verses. After long nights like these, the mornings were not difficult, as Mother warned when she would find me at my desk past ten o’clock.

If anything, these mornings were even sweeter: the trees stippled with turning leaves and bathed in a glorious light that seemed like much more than just the sun’s illumination; the white clouds sculpted against blue skies, stacked like majestic monuments to the Almighty’s unfathomable glory. And it wasn’t only beauty that moved me in these heightened states. Even the grease-encrusted axle of the yellow school bus slowing to its morning stop at the end of my driveway could captivate me, its twisting joint—and the large, squeaking wheel that turned around it—seeming to point the inscrutable way to some rich, strange, and holy power.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to identify with a work of fiction. To have my thoughts and cultural experiences splayed out so nicely by a complete stranger. To have my ideas about religious interpretation and understanding shared beyond the blogosphere – and actualised in the imaginative words and deeds of colourful, intense characters.

Often while reading American Dervish, when I wasn’t snickering at the humour, rolling my eyes with the characters or gaping and cringing at the more sensitive and emotionally intense scenes, I was usually nodding my head and saying, “yes, exactly.” More than once I’d look around for a book club because I so wanted to share and deconstruct the issues Ayad Akhtar has raised in this wonderful novel.

American Dervish is a non-traditional “coming of age” story – where each character takes his or her own journey to discover themselves and what it means to be American and Muslim. Taking place in Milwaukee during the 1980s, Pakistani-American Hayat Shah narrates a heartbreaking story of love, the Divine, and negotiating faith and culture.