Bird Summons, Leila Aboulela
Bird Summons, Leila Aboulela
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Bird Summons

Author: Leila Aboulela

Narrator: Raghad Chaar

Unabridged: 8 hr 21 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/11/2020

Synopsis

In her adventurous new novel, New York Times notable author Leila Aboulela delivers a lively portrait of three women who embark on a journey of self-discovery while grappling with the conflicting demands of family, duty, and faith.When Salma, Moni, and Iman―friends and active members of their local Muslim women’s group―decide to take a road trip together to the Scottish Highlands, they leave behind lives often dominated by obligation, frustrated desire, and dull predictability. Each wants something more out of life, but fears the cost of taking it. Salma is successful and happily married, but tempted to risk it all when she’s contacted by her first love back in Egypt; Moni gave up a career in banking to care for her disabled son without the help of her indifferent husband; and Iman, in her twenties and already on her third marriage, longs for the freedom and autonomy she’s never known. When the women are visited by the Hoopoe, a sacred bird from Muslim and Celtic literature, they are compelled to question their relationships to faith and femininity, love, loyalty, and sacrifice.Brilliantly imagined, thoughtful and wise, Bird Summons confirms Leila Aboulela’s reputation as one of our finest contemporary writers.

About Leila Aboulela

Leila Aboulela is the first ever winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing. Her many novels include The Translator, which was longlisted for the Orange Prize, and Home, which won the Saltire Society Fiction Book of the Year. Her work has been translated into more than a dozen languages. She grew up in Khartoum, Sudan, and now lives in Aberdeen, Scotland.

About Raghad Chaar

Raghad Chaar graduated from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and has been working as an actor in London since 2014. Her work includes BBC Radio 4's Welcome to Zaatari, BBC World Service's The Battle for Raqqa, and the audio edition of Nujeen by Nujeen Mustafa, with Christina Lamb.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Carmen

This was meant to be the ultimate threat, the winning card. If you don't carry the bundle of your crippled son, drape yourself in a black abaya and hop on a plane to Saudi, your husband will take another wife. You will be replaced; your spot will be taken. pg. 155 This is a strange book. As usual, I......more

Goodreads review by BookOfCinz

Updated August 2021 Made this a BookOfCinz Book Club pick and I am so happy I did! Wow! What an adventure! Perfect exploration of sisterhood! In Leila Aboulela’s Bird Summons we meet three women who are going on a road trip to the Scottish Highlands for a week. What could possibly go wrong? On th......more

Goodreads review by Claire

The first book I have read by Leila Aboulela, an author I've wanted to read for some time, being someone who grew up in one culture and has experienced life in another culture, of the variety that interests me, the opposite of the colonial visitor. There was a time when literary insights into other......more

Goodreads review by Inderjit

The story follows three women-Salma, Moni and Iman-as they undertake a pilgrimage to the grave of  Lady Evelyn Cobbold, the first known Western woman to undertake a pilgrimage to Mecca. The characters often veer towards caricature, the paper thin veils with which Aboulela dresses their personalty pu......more

Quotes

“Tender, but unsentimental…Rooted in everyday experience without forsaking the spiritual, told in effortlessly enjoyable style.” Daily Mail

“[Aboulela is] so good with women’s interiority, and Muslim women’s subjectivity…She gets beyond any cliché or type of the Muslim women.” BBC Radio

“Each well-developed plot line deepens characterization, while Aboulela’s interweaving of Muslim and Celtic fables via the sacred hoopoe bird, adds another dimension to the story and offers a sense of connection between the two traditions and the past and present.” Booklist (starred review)

“Impressive…Readers will root for Aboulela’s well-drawn cast as they reconcile their desires with their faiths and the obligations of their everyday lives. Aboulela’s novel is empathetic and insightful, offering a nuanced representation of the three characters through a blend of Islamic faith and Scottish folklore.” Publishers Weekly

“Aboulela’s exploration of the women’s problems of choice, faith, and commitment are as immersive as ever.” Kirkus Reviews

“A magic carpet ride into the forest of history and the lives of women. Playful, profound, and moving.” Lucy Ellman, author of Sweet Desserts

“A Scottish-Arabic Canterbury Tales, a quest full of stories and surprises: a challenging storyteller’s tour de force, uniting two radically different cultures with a handshake and a kiss.” Patricia Dunker, author of Hallucinating Foucault

“A wonderful book. I loved the beauty of its language, and the subtle interweaving of myth with the spiritual and physical journeys of the women. I found it fascinating, powerful and profound.” Anne Donovan, author of Buddha Da

“Engaging and funny and rich in narrative suspense.” Abdulrazak Gurnah, author of Paradise

“A heady blend of social realism, magic, Middle Eastern folktale, and Celtic myth. Leila Aboulela’s is a unique and refreshing voice in contemporary Scottish fiction.” James Robertson, author of The Testament of Gideon Mack

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