Reviewed by Purnima Bose | Book Review | The Indiana Magazine of History, 105.1

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Reviewed by Purnima Bose | Book Review | The Indiana Magazine of History, 105.1 | The History Cooperative

Reviews

The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf

By Mohja Kahf

(New York: Carroll and Graf, 2006. Pp. 444. Paperbound, $15.95.)

Literary critic and poet Mohja Kahf makes her novelistic debut with The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf, a female bildungsroman set in the American heartland. Khadra Shamys, a young Syrian-born girl and the protagonist of the novel, journeys with her family to Indiana, where her parents aspire to spread the word of the prophet and to help fellow Muslims perfect their practice of Islam. Chosen for its central location, "international airport, low crime rates, and affordable land," Indianapolis becomes the destination of choice for Khadra's sincere, mission-minded parents. Intent on instilling the "Islam-ic Lifestyle" among wayward Muslims, Khadra's parents have no compunctions about policing the religious behavior of their friends. Khadra is nurtured by a tight-knit, cosmopolitan community of Muslim aunties and uncles, comprising African Americans, Arabs, South Asians, and Cambodians. In spite of the social cement provided by Islam, the community is marked by sectarian tensions between Sunnis and Shias, the racial prejudices of Arab members against their African and African American cohorts, and differences in economic status.

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