In her marvelous and nuanced fourth novel, The Kindness of Enemies, Leila Aboulela (Lyrics Alley) uses historic conflicts to illustrate Islamophobia's pernicious legacy and its ominous reverberations in the present day. Natasha Wilson (neé Hussein) is a scholar teaching in Scotland in 2010, and she harbors serious doubts about religious faith, despite her work focusing on the Sufi leader Imam Shamil, who spearheaded the resistance against Russians invading the Caucasus in the 19th century.
Natasha's most promising student, Oz, happens to have descended from Shamil, and his mother, Malak, owns the imam's sword. When Oz invites Natasha to come see it, their bond of friendship and the significance of Shamil's stand against the Russians become irrevocably entwined.
Aboulela braids 2010 Scotland together with parallel dramas playing out in the disputed Eurasian highlands of the 1850s. Captured as a boy by Russian forces, Shamil's son Jamaleldin is raised in the opulent courts of St. Petersburg as the godson of the Tsar. Desperate for his son's return, Shamil orders the capture of Princess Anna of Georgia to prompt an exchange of hostages. Proud though they are, Anna and Jamaleldin will not walk away from captivity unchanged.
With an impeccable balance of internal and external conflicts, The Kindness of Enemies ruminates over clashing political allegiances, rival religious devotions, alienation within families and competing identities on a personal level. With stunning narrative powers and exquisite attention to detail, Aboulela delivers a riveting story of epic proportions. --Dave Wheeler, associate editor, Shelf Awareness