Safia Dirie, the heroine of 'From Somalia, with love' is a 14 year-old Somali girl who lives in the East End. She is fairly shy, reflective, a poet on a journey of self-discovery, learning to navigate the world around her.
"My name is Safia Dirie. My family has always been my mum, Hoyo, and my two older brothers, Ahmed and Abdullahi. I don't really remember Somalia - I'm an East London girl, through and through. But now Abo, my father, is coming from Somalia to live with us, after 12 long years. How am I going to cope?"
Does she really exist? In a way, yes: in so many young Muslim girls I have met. She shares their vulnerability, their strength, their desire to please their parents while finding themselves; their struggle between the carefree ways of their peers and the high ideals of Islam.
But no, Safia Dirie is not based on any one girl, no-one in particular. But I do hope she embodies many of the characteristics familiar to teenagers everywhere - thus making it easy to relate to her story, whether you are Somali or not, Muslim or not, British or otherwise.
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3 comments:
I think that the story-line of the book sounds not only interesting but very realistic and I'm sure many teenagers, myself probably included will relate in someway to Safia Dirie-hope the book comes along all right
Salams, Tahirah
I hope so too, Tahira, jazakAllahu khairah. The book is due to launch in the first week of June and will be on sale thereafter at mainstream bookshops across the country and online.
Keep checking the blog for event dates insha Allah...
I just red this book and it was worth it.
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