Soon orphaned, and with her twin brother sent to jail on a drug charge, she finds solace and companionship within the Muslim community. But a coup forces the young woman and her family into political exile in London. An upper-class Westernized Sudanese, her dreams were to marry well and raise a family. Twenty years ago, Najwa, then at university in Khartoum, would never have imagined that one day she would be a maid. With her Muslim hijab and down-turned gaze, Najwa is invisible to most eyes, especially to the rich families whose houses she cleans in London.
Her American debut is a provocative, timely, and engaging novel about a young Muslim woman–once privileged and secular in her native land and now impoverished in London–gradually embracing her orthodox faith. Her work has been long-listed for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and the Orange Prize, and she was the first winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing. Leila Aboulela has published two books in England that have been highly praised.
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