Review: The Good Muslim by Tahmima Anam

The Good Muslim by Tahmima Anam is set in Bangladesh both in the years immediately following the Bangladesh Liberation War and ten years later.  In that span of time, we see the evolution of this nation as it copes with the aftermath of the war and its effect on its citizens.  We see that evolution primarily through the story of Maya and Sohail - a brother and sister whose lives take divergent paths following the war which parallel the divide in Bangladesh.  When they reunite ten years later, can they reconcile their beliefs for the sake of their family and remember what bound them together growing up?

Maya Haque is a doctor living in the countryside where she cares for women who wouldn't have access to healthcare if it were not for her service to this rural community. She takes a special satisfaction in caring for these women and even seems to be paying some penance with this service. She leaves the countryside, however, to return to city in which she grew up and where her mother and brother, Sohail still live.  She fled the city following the war and has since been estranged from her brother. After she returns seven years later, Maya's mother faces a health crisis and the specter of losing her mother moves Maya to question beliefs she has held to vehemently over the years:

And she thought about what Ammoo was asking for, a prayer once a day, at dusk, that holy hour. She thought about giving in, and wished somehow she had done it long ago, surrendered to the practicality of religion. If she chose it now, it would be a hollow bargain, shallow and insubstantial. No God she could respect would enter into such a pact, knowing the believer knocking at the door wanted nothing more than a genie, a single wish and that even if this wish were to be accompanied by a deeper longing, there was no saying if she would ever keep her promises.

Sohail Haque was a solider in the Liberation War and, like his sister Maya, was a revolutionary who wanted independence for Bangaldesh (then East Pakistan). Like many that have gone to war, Sohail saw the unspeakable during the war and has difficulty living with the memories of acts he himself committed.  He returns to his sister and mother changed  - the once easy-going and vibrant Sohail is now withdrawn and unreachable. He begins to move toward religion going up to the roof of their house to preach and then marries a fundamentalist and seals his commitment to his new life by burning all his books. Maya is appalled at the change she observes in her brother and cannot understand his transformation - she flees the city and doesn't return for seven years.  When she comes back, Sohail is a religious leader and has a young son, Zaid.

My thoughts
I found this book fascinating - the exploration of the impact of religious fundamentalism on Bangladesh and on the relationship between brother and sister coupled with the fact that I knew little about Bangladesh or its history kept me interested throughout. I have a brother and I felt for Maya as she struggled with the loss of the brother she knew growing up and the feeling that he had chosen religious fundamentalism over her. At the same time, there is a sanctimony to Maya's insistence that her brother has chosen the wrong path and her inability to compromise further drives her apart from her brother. As strong as her brother's beliefs may be, Maya's belief that she is right is just as strong and she pays a price and sacrifices happiness to hold onto this belief.  She is angered by her brother's rigidity and yet she is also closed-minded.

My one quibble with the book was that there were many references to customs and/or Bangladeshi words without explanation - I think providing some explanation would have added to the richness of the novel and enabled me to immerse myself more in the novel. Despite that, however, I loved the story of Maya and Sohail and their very different struggles with ideology and religion gave me much to consider.

I am a participant in the TLC Book Tour for The Good Muslim and you can read reviews of the book from others on the tour here.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher as part of the tour