These Impossible Things - Salma El-Wardany

 These Impossible Things - Salma El-Wardany

She read

Publication Date:  June 7, 2022

Malak, Kees, and Jenna have been friends since childhood in the tight knit and nurturing Islamic culture of the UK.  As they embark on their adult lives, a sudden falling out one evening separates them temporarily.  They begin to build lives apart, but, in crisis, are drawn back to one another. 

This was yet another novel that took a while for me to engage with and really appreciate.  Initially, I thought the friends, for their age, to be quite adolescent, or at least their conversation seemed so.  

Beautifully written, the author tackles some very difficult topics. There is so much here…the pull of family and culture, gender roles, abuse, the strength of friendship, and what, to me, has always been the tyranny of religion.   It is an engrossing, rewarding read. There is a technique the author employs that I really like.  As she told the story from each woman’s POV, she also related what was going in other related peoples’ lives at the same time. 

Thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for providing the DRC.

*****