The Beauty of Your Face

Sahar Mustafah

Description

The New York Times Staff Pick
The Best Fiction by Women in 2020 Marie Claire
Best Feminist Books Coming Out in 2020 Ms. Magazine
Most Anticipated Books of 2020 Lithub
Twenty Must-Read Books of 2020 Bustle
Most Anticipated Books of 2020 Real Simple
Most Anticipated Books The Millions
One of 15 Books By Women to Read in 2020 The Lily
Starred Review Shelf Awareness

'Stunning' Marie Claire
'Striking' Rebecca Makkai
'With grace, empathy and wisdom' Ms. Magazine
'Indelible' Laila Lalami
'Insightful' Rajia Hassib
'Richly empathetic' Maurice Carlos Ruffin
'Haunting' Lit Hub
'Exquisite' Shelf Awareness
'Soared beyond my wildest expectations' Terry Galvan, Third Coast Review
'Gripping' Lorraine Kleinwaks, Enchanted Prose
'One of my favorite books this year' Susie Boutry, Novel Visits
'Lyrical prose, achingly real characters, and a driving narrative' Christine Maul Rice, Hypertext Magazine
'Profound' Emma Doettling, The Michigan Daily

---

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.

---

'A story of survival and hope, forgiveness and connection. It’s not just about the beauty of Afaf’s face, as the title implies, it’s about the beauty of her heart and the hearts of the people around her, no matter how lonely or scared they are' The New York Times

'Stunning... A timely family saga with faith and forgiveness at its core' Marie Claire

'The Beauty of Your Face is a striking and stirring debut, one that reaches its hands straight into the fire. Sahar Mustafah writes with wisdom and grace about the unthinkable, the unspeakable, and the unspoken' Rebecca Makkai, Pulitzer finalist for The Great Believers

'With grace, empathy and wisdom, this robustly written debut examines an American Muslim immigrant experience against the backdrop of a school shooting' Ms. Magazine

'Mustafah’s arresting debut about a mass shooting at a Muslim girls’ school grapples with issues of faith, identity, hatred, and forgiveness... Throughout, Mustafah powerfully demonstrates the human capacity for redemption and renewal. This inviting, topical tale will stay with readers' Publishers Weekly

'Profound insights and glittering words . . . a complex generational novel that is all too relevant in today’s divided America... the message rings loud and clear. Maybe violence could be avoided if people took the time to understand other people’s pain and find commonalities in their shared human experience' The Michigan Daily

'Mustafah writes impressively and convincingly of her Palestinian American immigrant community... an adept author well worth reading' Terry Hong, Booklist

'Mustafah's novel is frequently moving, especially in her depictions of Afaf's inner state. The sections of the book that describe Afaf's early life are especially vivid' Kirkus

'The indelible story of a Palestinian-American woman whose life is torn apart by loss, finds solace in her faith, and faces a violent threat that tests how far she has come. Sahar Mustafah writes about family and community with compassion and sensitivity. The Beauty of Your Face is a gift to readers' Laila Lalami, award winning author of The Other Americans and The Moor’s Account

'Rich with details of Islamic faith and Arab culture, The Beauty of Your Face is an insightful and beautifully-drawn study of the complexity of being an American Muslim immigrant. This compelling novel brilliantly challenges the notion of a unified religious and ethnic narrative while laying bare the most universal of desires: for love, acceptance, and belonging' Rajia Hassib, author of In the Language of Miracles

'Mustafah writes with a grace and precision that shows a deep understanding for the ways trauma can distort a life. The Beauty of Your Face is a richly empathetic work about the power of faith, family, and love' Maurice Carlos Ruffin, author of We Cast a Shadow

'The Beauty of Your Face explores faith, family, and hate with haunting precision' Emily Firetog, Lit Hub

'Sahar Mustafah's skillfully nuanced debut novel, The Beauty of Your Face, traces one family's challenges in adjusting to life in the United States through the perspective of first-generation Palestinian American Afaf Rahman . . . In recounting the specifics of Afaf's journey of faith and self-discovery, Mustafah paints a universal picture of coming to understand oneself . . . With exquisite pacing, Mustafah builds suspense and also Afaf's quiet courage' Shelf Awareness

'Mustafah's literary voice soared beyond my wildest expectations . . . Mustafah's prose stays clear, bright, and even lighthearted. Moments of laughter and hope slice emotionally taxing content into digestible portions . . . Many coming-of-age stories are about finding oneself by breaking away. By contrast, The Beauty of Your Face is about finding oneself by reaching deep and out into one's community and found family. I felt like I was in Afaf's shoes, in her mind and soul, for every second of every page' Terry Galvan, Third Coast Review

'The beauty of this gripping novel is its elegance in seeking our understanding towards Muslim Americans in a world too terrified to understand. The prose is gorgeously sad and empowering despite all the hatred and violence Afaf and her unraveling family endure. Prose that lets us feel what it's like to be victimized by racism towards Muslims – to the extent anyone other than the oppressed can truly feel that . . . Mystery, secrets, Islamophobia are all wrapped up in a very moving drama' Lorraine Kleinwaks, Enchanted Prose

'One of my favorite books this year . . . Sahar Mustafah told a wonderful story and I loved the structure' Susie Boutry, Novel Visits

'Lyrical prose, achingly real characters, and a driving narrative . . . The Beauty of Your Face reaches into the grab-bag of what it means to be American to focus on one family’s experience, stripping away the worn pretense of America-as-savior, laying bare a more brutal reality: America struggling to right itself with the weight of racism, hate, misinformation, and xenophobia. . . . Mustafah’s emotional generosity allows her to deftly juggle the novel’s complexity with bracing honesty and a level gaze' Christine Maul Rice, Hypertext Magazine

Sujets

• Mohsin Hamid
• Queenie
• Sahara

Informations

• Publié par: Legend Press
• Date de parution: 03 août 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 20
• EAN13: 9781789559729
• Langue: English

Extrait

The Best Fiction by Women in 2020 Marie Claire
Best Feminist Books Coming Out in 2020 Ms. Magazine
Most Anticipated Books of 2020 Lit Hub
Twenty Must-Read Books of 2020 Bustle
Most Anticipated Books of 2020 Real Simple
Most Anticipated Books The Millions
A story of outsiders coming together in surprising and uplifting ways.
The New York Times Book Review , Editors Choice
Mustafah s arresting debut grapples with issues of faith, identity, hatred, and forgiveness Throughout, Mustafah powerfully demonstrates the human capacity for redemption and renewal. This inviting, topical tale will stay with readers.
Publishers Weekly
Profound insights and glittering words a complex generational novel that is all too relevant in today s divided America
Emma Doettling, The Michigan Daily
Stunning... A timely family saga with faith and forgiveness at its core.
Marie Claire
A skillfully nuanced debut novel.
Shelf Awareness
The Beauty of Your Face explores faith, family, and hate with haunting precision.
Emily Firetog, Lit Hub
The Beauty of Your Face is a striking and stirring debut, one that reaches its hands straight into the fire. Sahar Mustafah writes with wisdom and grace about the unthinkable, the unspeakable, and the unspoken.
Rebecca Makkai, Pulitzer finalist for The Great Believers
Mustafah writes impressively and convincingly of her Palestinian American immigrant community
Terry Hong, Booklist
With grace, empathy and wisdom, this robustly written debut examines an American Muslim immigrant experience against the backdrop of a school shooting.
Ms. Magazine
The indelible story of a Palestinian-American woman whose life is torn apart by loss Sahar Mustafah writes about family and community with compassion and sensitivity. The Beauty of Your Face is a gift to readers.
Laila Lalami, award winning author of The Other Americans and The Moor s Account
The Beauty of Your Face is a richly empathetic work about the power of faith, family, and love.
Maurice Carlos Ruffin, author of We Cast a Shadow
An insightful and beautifully-drawn study of the complexity of being an American Muslim immigrant. This compelling novel brilliantly challenges the notion of a unified religious and ethnic narrative while laying bare the most universal of desires: for love, acceptance, and belonging.
Rajia Hassib, author of In the Language of Miracles
A story of survival and hope, forgiveness and connection. It s not just about the beauty of Afaf s face, as the title implies, it s about the beauty of her heart and the hearts of the people around her, no matter how lonely or scared they are.
Elisabeth Egan, The New York Times Book Review
The Beauty of Your Face is at once vast and intimate. Mustafah s vulnerable portrait of one of Chicago s lesser-known immigrant communities showcases the diversity and resilience of survivors who find and support each other in Chicago s industrial corridor.
Third Coast Review
A spectacular debut The beauty of this gripping novel is its elegance in seeking our understanding towards Muslim Americans in a world too terrified to understand.
Enchanted Prose
THE BEAUTY OF YOUR FACE
SAHAR MUSTAFAH
Legend Press Ltd, 51 Gower Street, London, WC1E 6HJ
[e-mail] | www.legendpress.co.uk
Contents Sahar Mustafah 2020
The right of the above author to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data available.
First printed in the US in 2020 by W.W. Norton Company, Inc., 500 Fifith
Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10110 | www.wwnorton.com
Print ISBN 978-1-78955-9-736
Ebook ISBN 978-1-78955-9-729
Set in Times. Printing managed by Jellyfish Solutions Ltd
Cover design by Rose Cooper | www.rosecooper.com
All characters, other than those clearly in the public domain, and place names, other than those well-established such as towns and cities, are fictitious and any resemblance is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
Sahar Mustafah is the daughter of Palestinian immigrants, a richly complex inheritance which she explores in her fiction. Her short stories have been awarded the Guild Literary Complex Prize for fiction, a Distinguished Story honor from Best American Short Stories , three Pushcart Prize nominations, and a Best of the Net nomination. Her collection Code of the West was published in 2017 by Willow Books. She is a member of Radius of Arab American Writers (RAWI), as well as a 2015 Voices of Our Nation fellow (VONA). Sahar also served with Voices of Protest, an artist collaboration begun by Chicago s Guild Literary Complex which seeks to promote the work of exiled writers and artists worldwide through the International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN). She currently writes and teaches in Illinois and is co-founder of Bird s Thumb , an online literary magazine devoted to new and emerging voices.
For those struck down by hate, your stories still keep you among us .
She s so young. Would you not let her blossom a bit more?
-friend of Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha
Events matter little, only stories of events affect us.
-Rabih Alameddine, The Hakawati
Nurrideen School for Girls
Another angry phone call, and it was only Tuesday.
It s very haram, Ms. Rahman! All that drinking and debauchery!
Afaf Rahman inhaled deeply. She had cultivated a reputation for patience as principal of the Nurrideen School for Girls. This wasn t the first complaint lodged against a book. The Great Gatsby is a state-approved text, Mrs. Ibrahim, she calmly explained to the parent on the other end.
The state of Illinois is not raising my daughter to be a proper muslimah, Ms. Rahman. A swift retort. She could hear sneering through the line.
The fathers rarely called Afaf-a professional woman with two master s degrees-didn t bother speaking with a marra. The men coached their wives on what to say when they called her. She could tell by the weak persistence in their voices that some of the wives had not taken their husbands positions against the liberal education of their daughters.
This mother, however, was raring to go.
Afaf s assistant Sabah appeared in the doorway of her office, holding a folder. Afaf waved her in. Um Ibrahim, raising your daughter to be a proper muslimah is your job at home, and my job at this school. She rolled her eyes at Sabah. I m also responsible for providing each young woman enrolled at this school with a competitive education. I m confident that no book could ever steer her-or any of my students-off the path of righteousness, Um Ibrahim.
My students -four hundred young, bright, and determined girls whom Afaf claimed as her own daughters. Her love and devotion to them were fierce.
Sabah pointed at a signature line on a document and handed her a pen. Her assistant wore a thickly knitted infinity scarf around her neck and a long sweater over her abaya. In the middle of February in Illinois, you could bet on a wind chill of ten degrees one day and wake up the next morning to a thirty-degree hike above normal.
Have you read The Great Gatsby , Um Ibrahim? Afaf asked the parent on the phone, quickly signing the form.
Sabah smiled, knowingly shaking her head, and replaced the document in a folder. She retreated to her desk outside Afaf s door.
Well, no. Abu Ibrahim and I watched it on Netflix. Leonardo DiCaprio s in it.
Afaf massaged her left temple. I see. Perhaps you and your husband should read it. I can arrange for copies to be sent home with your daughter Eman. Inshallah we can sit down once you ve read it and discuss your concerns. A few seconds of silence. She scratched the top of her hijab with the antennae of her two-way radio, waiting.
In her ten years at Nurrideen School, Afaf wrestled with parents who never backed down-a few even withdrew their daughters enrollment. The majority eventually relented and trusted her. Still, she chose her battles: contraception could be explored in health class, without encouraging premarital sex. And absolutely no discussion of abortion.
No. That won t be necessary, Ms. Afaf. May Allah give you the strength and wisdom to guide our daughters in this frightening world.
The parent hung up and Afaf left her office, clutching her radio. She gave Sabah a thumbs-up.
Her assistant laughed. By the way, the interfaith summit meeting is rescheduled to next week. They re sending us a revised agenda by the end of the day.
Good. Who are the student ambassadors?
Sabah scanned her desk. Majeeda Abu Lateef, Jenin Muhsin, and Renah Abdel Bakir. Two seniors, one junior.
Afaf nodded. Jenin was her daughter Azmia s best friend and the two of them had started the first student chapter of Amnesty International at Nurrideen School. Azmia had been only a freshman that year, already championing human rights. Like so many of her peers, she d paid close attention to the case of Malala Yousafzai, a fifteen-year-old student like her, shot in the head for wanting an education. Azmia had been rattled for days.
How can they do that? Aren t they Muslim, too? her daughter had wanted to know. Afaf had no good answer except, They re not tru