Books Set in Asia and North America: Pakistan, Iraq, and San Francisco, California

The Bad Muslim Discount, by Syed M Masood (2021)

This novel follows two Muslim families who immigrated to the San Francisco from Islamic countries.  Anvar Faris’ family left Karachi, Pakistan in the mid-1990s when fundamentalism begins to take over their country.  Safwa, a young girl living in war-torn Baghdad, Iraq, illegally escapes with her father to the United States.

 

Anvar’s mother is a deeply devout Muslim, but his father is more laid-back.  Anvar’s mother and older brother easily settle into California and into its Muslim community.  His father, however, finds the community a bit more difficult.  All is well until 9-11.  Anvar’s brother is the “good” Muslim in the family.  He goes to mosque, prays five times a day, doesn’t smoke or drink and becomes engaged to a women chosen by his parents.  Anvar, however, it the “bad” Muslim.  He drinks, sleeps with women and goes to mosque only when his mother insists.

 

In college, Anvar meets and falls in love with Zuha Shah.  Although they part ways, Anvar never stops loving her.  He isn’t as religious as Zuha and settles for being a “bad” Muslim.

 

Meanwhile, Safwa is living with an abusive father and confined to her house in Baghdad.  Her father then was abducted by Americans during the Iraq War, and she was left along with her brother who was dying of a terminal illness.  As the war drew closer to her home, she was forced to flee to Basra.  Ultimately her father was released, and they were reunited.  His abuse, however, continued.  Enter Oais, an evil villager.  He offers Safwa and her father an opportunity to escape to the United States, but at a terrible price.

 

Safwa and her father begin a new life with new names in San Francisco.  Safwa is now known as Azza.  As it happens, they live in the same apartment building as Anvar.  The landlord has a tender heart and gives people in need what he calls a “good Muslim discount” on the rent.  Anvar and Azza begin a relationship, but from her perspective, it is a way to escape the violence inflicted upon her by her father.

 

This novel explores faith and geopolitical issues through the eyes of the lens of Muslim Americans.  The author points out that Muslims have been a part of American fabric throughout the history’s country.

 

I loved this novel.

 

Read: August 2, 2023

5 Stars

Books Set in the United States

The Immortalists, by Chloe Benjamin (2018)

Would you want to know the date of your death, and if you did know when you would die, would that impact your life?  That’s the premise of The Immortalists.

In 1969, the four Gold children, Simon, Klara, Daniel and Varya, aged 7, 9, 11, and 13, respectively, visit a mysterious woman said to tell fortunes.  As the children individually enter the woman’s apartment, she tells them the exact date of their death.  Some of the children share that date, the others keep it a secret.  But the children are just that ~ should they take the woman seriously?

The novel follows each of the four children.  Simon, the youngest, leaves home at age 16 to seek a new start in San Francisco.  Klara focuses on magic and perfects a death-defying trick of hanging by her teeth from a rope.  Daniel becomes a military doctor, and Varya becomes a researcher in aging.  Each child remains haunted by their early prophesy into their death.  This supposed knowledge also affects their relationships with family members and others they encounter.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  The author really made the character’s come alive.

Read:  May 14, 2018

4 Stars

Books Set in North America: San Francisco

Frog Music, by Emma Donoghue (2014)

It’s 1876 in San Francisco.  The city is plagued by a small pox epidemic and a heat wave.  Prostitution is legal, as is the farming out of unwanted babies.

Blanche Beunon is a French immigrant, burlesque dancer and “soiled dove”.  She lives with her lover and his protégé.  One day in the middle of August, Jenny, riding a high-wheeled bicycle literally runs into Blanche.  Jenny has a mysterious past.  She has, however, been arrested numerous times because of her habit of wearing pants and men’s clothing.  It is illegal in Victorian San Francisco for a woman to wear such clothing.

Blanche and Jenny form a curious friendship.  Within a month, however, Jenny has been shot and killed.  [This is not a spoiler, as the murder occurs in the first few pages of the novel.]  Blanche spends the next few days trying to bring the murderer to justice.

The novel goes back and forth in time, slowly peeling back the layers of Blanche’s life and her relationships with those around her.

The novel is based on actual historical events of the real-life murder of Jenny Bonnet who wore men’s clothing and caught frogs for a living, and Blanche Beunon.

Read:  January 14, 2018

3.5 Stars

Books Set in the United States: San Francisco, California

Special Circumstances, by Sheldon Siegel (2000)

Mike Daley recently left a high-powered law firm and started his own criminal law practice.  His first case is Joel Friedman, a former colleague and friend from his old law firm.  Joel has been charged with the murder of a key partner and associate at the law firm.  Although at first blush, it appeared to be a murder suicide, Joel seemed to have a motive ~ he had just been denied a partnership.

This was a fun and easy read.  The book was written in 2000, so some of the references to the OJ Simpson trial, and references to pay phones seems a bit dated.

Read:  November 23, 2017

4 Stars