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A review by aligeorge
The Things I Would Tell You: British Muslim Women Write by Sabrina Mahfouz
4.0
The Things I Would Tell You is an anthology of poetry, prose, drama and non fiction. As such there is probably something for everyone on there, and it’s a very interesting and timely read. Editor Sabrina Mahfouz uses a quote from Ahdaf Soueif in the intro to explain the premise of the collection:
“I felt upset and angered by the misrepresentations I encountered constantly and I felt grateful when a clear-eyed truth was spoken about us. And then again, who was ‘us’?”
The book looks to answer that question, unpicking the notion there’s one homogenous ‘us’ that applies to all Muslim people and that it’s the version told by the Western media (radicalised, scary, etc).
There are a lot of stand out pieces in here. The opening story, Under The Cypress Tree by Fadia Faqir, tells a story of a burgeoning almost friendship between an elderly, racist white woman named Doris and her new Bedouin neighbour Timam - but it doesn’t necessarily go in the direction you might think.
Cutting Someone’s Heart Out with a Spoon by Chimene Suleyman might have been my favourite story, just because it’s so weird and wonderful. The Girl Next Door by Kamila Shamsie was an interesting look into the juxtaposing worlds of a Westernised Muslim woman who has returned after living in Britain and one who has never left Pakistan. The extract from Battleface, a play by Sabrina Mahfouz, unfolds brilliantly and I don’t know how to review it without giving anything away but suffice to say I would love to see it in full.
In summary, I would highly recommend this book to anyone that likes good storytelling.
“I felt upset and angered by the misrepresentations I encountered constantly and I felt grateful when a clear-eyed truth was spoken about us. And then again, who was ‘us’?”
The book looks to answer that question, unpicking the notion there’s one homogenous ‘us’ that applies to all Muslim people and that it’s the version told by the Western media (radicalised, scary, etc).
There are a lot of stand out pieces in here. The opening story, Under The Cypress Tree by Fadia Faqir, tells a story of a burgeoning almost friendship between an elderly, racist white woman named Doris and her new Bedouin neighbour Timam - but it doesn’t necessarily go in the direction you might think.
Cutting Someone’s Heart Out with a Spoon by Chimene Suleyman might have been my favourite story, just because it’s so weird and wonderful. The Girl Next Door by Kamila Shamsie was an interesting look into the juxtaposing worlds of a Westernised Muslim woman who has returned after living in Britain and one who has never left Pakistan. The extract from Battleface, a play by Sabrina Mahfouz, unfolds brilliantly and I don’t know how to review it without giving anything away but suffice to say I would love to see it in full.
In summary, I would highly recommend this book to anyone that likes good storytelling.