The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf

Syrian immigrant Khadra Shamy is growing up in a devout, tightly knit Muslim family in 1970s Indiana, at the crossroads of bad polyester and Islamic dress codes. Along with her brother Eyad and her African-American friends, Hakim and Hanifa, she bikes the Indianapolis streets exploring the fault-lines between Muslim" and American." When her picture-perfect marriage goes sour, Khadra flees to Syria and learns how to pray again. On returning to America she works in an eastern state , taking care to stay away from Indiana, where the murder of her friend Tayiba's sister by Klan violence years before still haunts her. But when her job sends her to cover a national Islamic conference in Indianapolis, she's back on familiar ground: Attending a concert by her brother's interfaith band The Clash of Civilizations, dodging questions from the aunties" and uncles," and running into the recently divorced Hakim everywhere. Beautifully written and featuring an exuberant cast of characters, The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf charts the spiritual and social landscape of Muslims in middle America, from five daily prayers to the Indy 500 car race. It is a riveting debut from an important new voice.

Born in Damascus, Syria, Mohja Kahf came to the U.S. as a child. Kahf is an associate professor of comparative literature at Rutgers. Her first book of literary scholarship is Western Representations of the Muslim Woman: From Termagant to Odalisque (University of Texas Press, 1999). She is also the author of a book of poetry, E-mails from Sheherazad (University Press of Florida 2003). Kahf is a member of the national group RAWI (Radius of Arab American Writers).

Syrian immigrant Najla Shamy is growing up devoutly Muslim in 1970s Indiana, at the crossroads of bad polyester and Islamic dress codes. With her brother Ayman and the African American brother-sister twins Sharifa and Hakim, Najla bikes the Indanapolis streets and explores the fault-lines between "Muslim" and "American." Meanwhile, the adult Najla is in Kansas City attending the conference of a national Islamic organization, in a present-tense thread that reunites her with friends from the Indianapolis days. Durdana, a Pakistani girl who taught Najla that Skipper should call Barbie "bhaji," the Urdu honorific for older sister, is now a lesbian, but still wears the Muslim headcovering. Ayman has chosen a conservative life devoted to Islamic work. Tayiba, whose sister was killed by Klan violence in a scene that haunts Najla's childhood, treads a middle path. Hakim has begun to slip out of the "militant imam" persona he created for himself to play in a jazz band. Is there a spark of romance between him and Najla, both recently divorced? Breaking utterly new ground in American literature with this subject matter, Kahf chronicles the material culture and spiritual struggles of Muslims in middle America, with an affectionate -- and critical -- eye.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.