Minaret

Najwa grew up in Khartoum as part of a wealthy, Westernized and secular Sudanese family. At university there, she expected to marry well and raise a family. Then a coup forces her and her family into political exile in London, and she is soon left an orphan.

Twenty years later she is poor and works as a maid in the homes of affluent families. Wearing a hijab and keeping her eyes lowered, she goes unnoticed by most of the people she works for. She finds comfort and companionship in London's Muslim community, and gradually turns to a more orthodox practice of her faith.

Then she meets Tamer, the intense, lonely younger brother of one of her employers. Faith gives them common ground, and slowly and quietly they begin to fall in love. Minaret is Leila Aboulela's American debut, a novel about Islam and about a Muslim woman's life in exile, told in direct, lyrical prose.