The Memory of Hands
Author: Reshma Baig
Subject: Stories About Muslim Life in America
Grade Level: 7th to Adult
Rating: 5 Stars
Seldom does one come across a work of literature that is just that- a work of literature. All the ingredients that one expects to find must be present: tight writing, universal ideas, poignant themes and, in a Muslim's case, an Islamic message. When one opens The Memory of Hands, they get that and more.
While there are Muslim authors who have discussed science, sociology, religion and so on, there aren't many Islamic authors that write on a literary level like that of many American writers. People need to understand that as Muslims we also need works of fiction to round out our reading agendas, for example fictional books for youth and adults. Well, we finally have an author that can be called the Muslim Toni Morrison, Ms. Reshma Baig.
To pour over the book and discuss its nuances would be quite a feat in this limiting forum. There is just so much that can be said about the first full-fledged Muslim novel. One can only hope to give a back ground of the piece. The novel follows the lives of two sisters as they grow up in America. While this may seem familiar, it has an Islamic slant. The struggles that the girls must deal with as they try to over come the animosity that this country throws at them is powerful.
Be it a clash of old world versus new world dictums, or contending with a parent who himself is battling against this country's prejudice, this novel always maintains a sense of Islam just under the text. It's the life of real Muslims with real everyday struggles being played before the reader.
To say that this type of novel is over due would be an understatement; to say that it's a good book wouldn't due it any justice; to say that you'll not be affected by its content would be impossible.
An excellent collection of short stories centering on the lives of Muslims in urban America as well as on the immigrant Muslim experience. A poetic journey through the Muslim community that holds the prospect for growth and renewal in all of us. For High School to adult level.
A selection from the book...
Ruby Auntie told me to keep my standards high and my motives true. She is my mother’s youngest sister. Everyone thought she would never marry, so they were all shocked when she said yes to a Pakistani botanist six years ago. My family placed some matrimonial ads in two Muslim magazines, and the proposals came tumbling in. Photos, c.v.’s and E-mail from all corners of the world. I didn't know there were so many single Muslim men out there who wanted “slim, fair skinned girls under 30” from specific cultures. Girls? Funny, I thought I was a woman—or at least a young woman—and my culture is Islam.
Nan’na told Ruby Auntie that she shouldn’t worry that she was not fair skinned. Her prospects were still good since she was still under 30. She was never married, had a Ph.D., was blessed with the advantage of height, had a good job, always wore conservative suits, and on top of it all, spoke fluent Urdu. Nan’na reminded Ruby that our family was well known in the community and that she had specified that only qualified young men need send their proposals.
After Na’na and Nan’na announced to the community that they were seeking proposals for their youngest daughter, Nan’na clamped her hand on the phone every time it rang. Her notebook and pen waited on the kitchen counter like a surgeon’s tools. She picked up the phone with a thoroughly well rehearsed script in mind. Nan’na had it all figured out. Nan’na knew what she had to say and when to weed them out.
As she hung up the phone after speaking with an unlucky suitor, Nan’na said, “I may be an old woman, but I can still tell a decent man by the sound of his voice.” Nan’na suddenly became the Matrimonial Post-master General. With phone in hand, she said that she could discern the First Class proposals from the flimsy Third Class proposals just by the way the men spoke about themselves. She had trained her ears to spot what she called the “discrepancy” in the grainy undercurrent of a man’s voice.
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