Every year I notice some theme sneak into my reading. This year, it's love. I'd rather focus on love to help me forget the hate in the world. I read somewhere that Melinda Gates chooses a word each year for her resolution of sorts, so there it is, my reading resolution. The love story drew me to this novel but the 'mood' kept me enthralled. This is Leila Aboulela's first novel and atmospherically, it is distinct. She thought that it was not true what people said, that time passed quickly when...

Girl meets boy, girl falls in love with boy but cannot be with him because their religions are different. Girl scolds boy and runs away, far, far away and prays boy will convert so they can be together. Boy converts and travels the many miles to find girl, and they marry and live happily ever after.Might have been written by the brothers Grimm in the 18/19th C had they lived a few thousand miles away.In addition the "feminist" protagonist, who I admit might be feminist given her circumstances, b...

A gentle reflection on what is often lost in translation between cultures, told through a not-very- interesting love story.

Sammar, a young Muslim woman from Khartoum, has been overwhelmed with grief since her husband's death. She works as an Arabic translator at a university in Aberdeen, Scotland while her son stays with her aunt in Khartoum. Sammar and Rae, a kind secular Middle Eastern Studies professor, form a close friendship which deepens into love. Sammar has a very strong faith that defines her as a person. But Rae comes from a different religious and cultural background.Author Leila Aboulela writes using spa...

It’s probably near impossible in this day and age to write a disparaging review of a book featuring a Muslim character and not come across as Islamophobic. (It’s ever so much easier to just reductively scream phobia this or racist that instead of actually comprehending the context, following the empirical evidence trail, thinking for yourself, etc.) But hey, I’m gonna give it a whirl. So first…some background. Actual facts from reputable sources. Sudan has recently made the news for ever so prog...

I was expecting a lot from this novel when i bought it! I am now disappointed..2 stars for its beautiful language & the rich scent of Sudan!I hated the gloomy side of Sammar,i hated her detachment from her son(her own flesh & blood),i hated how she cornered Rae to convert &marry her! LoLI loved the Sudan part of the story..it was closer to my soul!!

I was very disappointed in this book, because I really wanted it to be better than it was—it's a story ostensibly about a woman grappling with her MENA cultural identity and the politics of language, which is very much up my alley—but absolutely none of the characters were appealing either as narrative commentary or as human beings. SAMMAR I could not stand Sammar. Certainly I could relate to her conflicted feelings about her culture, her religion, her family, her country, etc., but she was so...

I was both absorbed by and ambivalent about this book - which is an oddity, because I wouldn't have thought it was possible to be both at once. But here I am - absorbed and ambivalent - having wanted very much to see where the story would go, and yet not really finding Aboulela's writing particularly compelling.The Translator focuses on the life of Summar, a young, Sudanese widow in Aberdeen, who translates Arabic texts for a department at the local university. There she meets Rae, an Islamic sc...

I enjoyed this understated love story between a widowed Sudanese woman, who is a devout Muslim, and a secular Islamic scholar for whom she translates. Half takes place in Aberdeen, Scotland and half in Khartoum, Sudan. Themes of faith, grief, exile, and family (some politics, but not much) explored with quiet and lovely prose.

The story of (oddly enough) a translator:) This is about a Sudanese widow who has embraced her Islamic religion. She is living in Scotland when she start working as an Arabic translator for an Islamic scholar who is not a believer. After they fall in love she must decide what is stronger, her love or her faith. What this novel explores with great finesse is the true nature of faith. What it means to be faithful and what it means to give your life over to that. The language in this novel is a joy...

The Translator by Leila Aboulela is the love story of Sammar, a young Sudanese widow, and a Scottish professor. The novel opens a few years after the death of Sammar’s husband, a student at an Aberdeen university. After taking his body back to Khartoum for burial and leaving their young son with her mother-in-law, Sammar has returned to Aberdeen. She supports herself by working as an Arabic translator at the University. She grieves for her husband, is isolated and lonely. She gradually emerges f...

The Translator is about Sammar, a Muslim widow, who moves to Scotland with her husband before he dies in a car accident. Its a moving and accurate tale about a demographic that is inexplicable to most Westerners: the Muslim woman. The tale starts with Sammar translating a document sent by a terrorist group. She notes how rife with spelling mistakes it is, how pathetic and instantly creates a barrier between Muslims like her, and uneducated extremists like them, fighting against a force they don'...

I'M RE-WRITING MY REVIEW .If you read the first review , then excuse my naivety.This book has been assigned for me at Uni , Although I did not have big expectations, it sure caught me off guard.The whole time I was reading this , I was having a continual feeling of déjà vu as if I've read or seen this before , not the same story obviously but the same atmosphere / style .The story of a northern african making her way through Schotland , a western society , reminded me of Chimamanda Adiche's Amer...

I brought this back from the U.S. in April because I wanted to read something by Aboulela, a Sudanese author. I've read works by Muslim authors and/or with Muslim characters before but this was the first to prominently feature Islamic spirituality, which was probably my favorite part of reading it. I learned a lot.Much like the narrator herself, this book felt calm and collected despite all of the internal and surrounding tumult the protagonist faced.I didn't love it, but I liked it.

Warning to readers! This edition includes an incredibly annoying introduction by Anne Donovan which praises Aboulela's text in rather general terms and summarises the plot, as if you want the whole thing spoiled for you before beginning! It isn't a gripping thriller full of twists, granted, but that doesn't mean I don't want to be surprised by what the author hasn't chosen to reveal in advance. This would have made a perfectly inoffensive and even pleasant afterword, if one were needed, but I wa...

When the viewpoint seems so rare, it makes you realize just how rare it is to have a muslim woman tell her own story and express her feelings in fiction. But it's not to be read just for it's particular point of view - it is also a beautiful story of being and loving and being alien in your own culture as well as the one you're living in. The contrasts and the sameness, the love and loss that goes with human migration. You should definitely read Aboulela, and not just for the diversity!

4.5 starsthe only reason i knocked .5 stars off was because something about the ending felt a little rushed. otherwise, this was wonderful - especially the stunning writing.

I had mixed feelings about this book because there were things that were good and things I didn’t like. First, I have to say that it’s well-written, lyrical at times and mostly positive. The thing that I most admired about the book is that it remained true to Islam, which sounds strange in a way because I have no particular feelings about the subject, but books have a tendency to compromise on religious beliefs in the name of love and this didn’t. Sammar, the Sudanese protagonist of the book, a

This is undoubtedly one of the best books I've had the opportunity to read. The characters make your heart soar, the dialogues, images, themes are all profoundly moving. I have not had such an emotional response to a piece of fiction in a long time. I learned many things from this book: I remembered prayer, I thought of loss, and love and the pervasive nature of love that allows you to conquer fear and stigma. I learned about the beauty of the human spirit to persevere, to hold onto love despite...

This is a beautiful novel, one which provides a window onto the Islamic faith and hope that there might be understanding between East and West.