The Beauty of your Face
A Novel
Book - 2020
"A Palestinian American woman wrestles with faith, loss, and identity before coming face-to-face with a school shooter in this searing debut. A uniquely American story told in powerful, evocative prose, The Beauty of Your Face navigates a country growing ever more divided. Afaf Rahman, the daughter of Palestinian immigrants, is the principal of Nurrideen School for Girls, a Muslim school in the Chicago suburbs. One morning, a shooter -- radicalized by the online alt-right -- attacks the school. As Afaf listens to his terrifying progress, we are swept back through her memories: the bigotry she faced as a child, her mother's dreams of returning to Palestine, and the devastating disappearance of her older sister that tore her family apart. Still, there is the sweetness of the music from her father's oud, and the hope and community Afaf finally finds in Islam. The Beauty of Your Face is a profound and poignant exploration of one woman's life in a nation at odds with its ideals." -- Provided by publisher
Publisher:
New York, NY : W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2020
Edition:
First edition
ISBN:
9781324003380
1324003383
1324003383
Characteristics:
300 pages ; 22 cm


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Add a CommentI'm still coming to terms with having finished this book. Beautifully sad and at the same time hopeful. Just a powerful read.
Among the stunning debut books that have just come out is this story of a Palestinian-American woman. Afaf struggles with not only the problems of growing up, but that of having a father who is alcoholic, a mother who has been committed to mental wards in a hospital, a sister who disappeared, and religious discrimination. When after a horrible car accident her father turns back to Islam, he encourages her to join him. For me, a non-Muslim, learning about what goes on in a mosque, the importance of the hijab and what happens on a Hajj was enlightening. When you start the book, you will think it is going to be about a mass shooting in a Muslim girls’ school, and it is, but it is so much more. It is a look at what caused the “non-social” white man to commit such murder and it shows the compassion that is a big part of being a Muslim.