Leila Aboulela is one of my favourite authors - a gifted writer with a great turn of phrase and characters you can really care about. Her writing often incorporates and reflects her Muslim faith in a way that is enlightening for those not of the religion, and reading her novels has given me a much greater understanding of how the Islamic religion influences and enhances the everyday lives and decision making of its adherents.
'Bird Summons' started off really well, introducing three very different women, friends from an 'Arabic speaking Muslim women's' group in Dundee. The there are going on a holiday-slash-pilgrimage together, to visit the grave of an aristocratic 19th century Scot who converted to Islam. The first few chapters I really enjoyed, as we got to know the women and their life circumstances. Salma is the leader, confident and admirable, with a successful career as a massage therapist and a lovely husband and four children. Moni is mother of a young disabled child, her life and identity having been subsumed by her caring responsibilities. And Iman is young and beautiful but wonders what more there might be to life than looking pretty and being a trophy wife.
Then just as I was getting into into, the oddness starts, and the tale develops into a weird magical realist fable. It's based around the old tale of the 'Bird King' - interesting the second novel based around that legend I've read this year, and not the better of the two. The strangeness is geared up chapter by chapter until it's an all out fantasy by the end. There is an underlying message, which I did sort of get, but the delivery just didn't work for me. The problem is that I don't really like magical realism and rarely enjoy books of the genre, no matter how good the author.
If you like - or even don't mind - magical realism then you will likely enjoy the story as Aboulela is a good writer whose words are pleasing to read and whose characters are interesting to know. But if like me you struggle to engage with books where there are no 'boundaries' between real and fantasy, then you might want to steer clear. Try 'Lyrics Alley' by the same author instead, which is a masterpiece.
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Top reviews from other countries
BookWorm
Aboulela always writes well, but this foray into magical realism doesn't work for me
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 1, 2020Verified Purchase
Humico
Interesting story
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 29, 2021Verified Purchase
JRS
Wonderfully woven
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 5, 2019Verified Purchase
PinkPerla
An inspiring mystical read
Reviewed in Germany 🇩🇪 on June 12, 2019Verified Purchase
Emily - London
Scottish road trip parable with visions
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 12, 2019