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Beyond Veiled Clichés
Magnificent. Surprising. Illuminating. Australia needs this book. NIKKI GEMMELL As someone who has a foot in both the Western and Arabic worlds, Amal set out to explore the lives of Arab women, in Australia and the Middle East, travelling to the region and interviewing more than sixty women about feminism, intimacy, love, sex and shame, trauma, war, religion and culture. Beyond Veiled Clichs explores the similarities and differences experienced by these women in their daily lives - work, relationships, home and family life, friendships, the communities they live in, and more. Arab-Australian women are at the intersection - between Western ideals and Arab tradition. It can get messy, but there is also great beauty in the layers. In a time of racial tension and rising global fear around terrorism, there is a renewed fear of 'the other'. At its heart this fascinating book normalises people and their experiences. The breadth, variety and beauty of what Amal has discovered will enthral and surprise you.
Bitter & Sweet
Sometimes you have to lose everything to find yourself... The lake in the middle of her father's kitchen is only the first in a series of disasters in Zeina's life. Nassar's recent health crisis has seen his well-established community restaurant, Casablanca, losing ground and customers to trendier competition. Casablanca's deterioration is not the only chaos in Zeina's world but, unlike her husband who won't speak to her, her best friend who is sliding towards self-destruction, and her cousin who is stealing Zeina's life story for content, the restaurant is something she can fix. And Zeina, lonely and adrift, needs something she can fix. Taking leave from her prestigious chef position, Zeina throws herself into caring for her ailing father, immersing herself in the familiar foods and flavours of her childhood, trying to save both him and his restaurant. But working in the kitchen – and her childhood home – brings memories, secrets, and unexpected ambitions simmering to the surface. When it comes time to make hard decisions, Zeina will have to accept that growing up is an ongoing process – one that never gets any easier.
In My Past Life I was Cleopatra
For as long as humans have existed, we have consulted everything from the stars to stones with symbols on them. Growing up in an Arab Muslim family, SBS journalist and TEDx presenter Amal Awad was keenly aware of the unseen forces at play in her life - superstition, fatalism and magical jinn were more real to her than any Hollywood fantasy. From religious devotion to New Age love and light, Amal has tried ... a lot. While this doesn't make her an expert in healing your life, it does makes her a well-versed one, fluent in the boundless healing modalities on offer in our ever-expanding retail universe. From psychic mediums and spirit guides to Paleo diets and empowerment, there are questionable (and downright fraudulent) solutions being sold to the masses. Yet, arguably, there is still a lot of good to be found in these offerings. In this funny and shrewdly observed book, Amal shares her personal journey to peace and empowerment via a wide array of psychics, healers and witches, considering the smorgasbord of spiritual thinking on offer for people wanting to #livetheirbestlife and exploring whether these practices can help, harm or both in the quest for spiritual enlightenment.
The Things We See in the Light
In the cafe, I watch as a woman takes a photo of her plate – an impressive, glossy lime-coloured dessert with shards of chocolate perched on top. I want to feel that ease and confidence, too. Like this is my city again, and I know my way around it. Eight years ago, Sahar pursued her happily ever after when she married Khaled and followed him to Jordan, leaving behind her family, her friends and a thriving cake business. But married life didn't go as planned and, haunted by secrets, Sahar has returned home to Sydney without telling her husband. With the help of her childhood friends, Sahar hits the reset button on her life. She takes a job at a local patisserie run by Maggie, a strong but kind manager who guides Sahar in sweets and life. But as she tentatively gets to know her colleagues, Sahar faces a whole new set of challenges. There's Kat and Inez, who are determined that Sahar try new experiences. Then there's Luke, a talented chocolatier and a bundle of contradictions. As Sahar embraces the new, she reinvents herself, trying things once forbidden to her. But just when she is finally starting to find her feet, her past finds its way back to her.
The Incidental Muslim
The Incidental Muslim is an honest, witty and heartfelt collection of columns and new musings by writer Amal Awad. Growing up in Australia as a hybrid identity (Arab-Australian-Muslim), Amal has unique insights on career, life, love and feminism.A passionate moviegoer and TV buff, she also considers her love of storytelling and how Hollywood just can't get their portrayals of Muslims right. More specifically, she bemoans the lack of the incidental Muslim - the character who just happens to be a Muslim, rather than the usual three Cs: cab drivers, convenience store owners or crackpots. Excerpt from The Incidental Muslim"Like any teenager, I had modest career aspirations. In my case, I would t...
Fridays with my Folks
Amal Awad's life changed when her father was diagnosed with kidney failure. It was a shock to see the impact it had on him, both physically and mentally, and the way the side effects trickled onto those around him. Work had always made him feel whole and retirement was a challenge. On a mission to help her father and support her mother, Amal began spending every Friday with her parents. She saw the gaps in discussion around ageing and sickness. Amal's personal experiences prompted her to explore how Australians are ageing, how sickness affects the afflicted and those around them, and what solutions exist when hope seems lost. So many people are similarly navigating a new reality - weeks dott...
Courting Samira
It may be the twenty-first century, but who says courtship is obsolete? Coming from a (somewhat-traditional) Muslim family, twenty-seven-year-old Samira Abdel-Aziz has seen her fair share of suitors. Her general rule: if he comes in wearing shoes with tassels, a leather jacket circa 1982, and/or has a moustache, the doorknock appeal will fail from the outset. A girl has to have some standards, right? As an assistant at Bridal Bazaar magazine, Samira's sick of all things wedding-related. Then she unwittingly becomes wedding gofer for her cousin/nemesis Zahra and her life begins to resemble a soap opera. When she meets Menem in a chance encounter at a team-building day, for the first time Samira knows what it's like to naturally be interested in someone. But with that comes a whole new set of problems. How do you get to know someone when the options seem to be to get married or end up a spinster? Why is her best friend Lara insisting that Menem isn't right for her? And why has her childhood friend Hakeem started behaving so strangely? A light-hearted but honest peek into the life of a young, single Muslim woman who knows there's more to life than love at first suitor visit.
This is How You Get Better
Life is like an etch-a-sketch. It's only ever clear when it's brand new. After that, no matter how much you wipe over the previous stuff, you can always see the scratch lines, and it never looks the same again. In survival mode following a messy separation, Lara Abdel-Aziz is estranged from her family and out of touch with her best friend Samira. Making ends meet by working a dead-end job at a fast-food shop, she also sings at a local bar, where she enjoys the freedom to be whoever she likes. Bar owner Leo is good company, but her only other interactions are with her mostly absent flatmate Icky, and her neighbour Angela, who owns a New Age store and desperately wants Lara to get in touch with her higher self. After a break-in at work forces Lara into counselling, and an encounter with an old friend leads to an unexpected connection, she must start to unpack the events of her life and make peace with the past. But are some things too broken to ever be fixed? A moving story of healing, connection and fate.
This Is How You Get Better
"Guilt is an emotion for which I have no time. It's exhausting, stops you from having any fun, and is the equivalent of one of those T-shirts that says 'I went to [insert adventure] and all I got was this lousy T-shirt'." In recovery mode after a messy divorce from a non-Muslim man, Lara Abdel-Aziz is estranged from her family and out of touch with her best friend Samira. Making ends meet by working in a fast food shop in Sydney, she also sings at a local bar, enjoying the anonymity of a favourite past-time. Local guitar player Leo is good company, but her only other interactions are with her mostly-absent flatmate Icky, and new age store owner Angela, who wants Lara to work for her and get in touch with her higher self. Lara is comfortably on autopilot until a near-assault at work forces her into counselling and she must start to unpack the events of her life and make peace with the past. Meanwhile, an unexpected encounter with Hakeem, the strict religious friend once in love with Samira, leads to an unlikely connection. As an attraction develops between them, they both begin to repair their broken lives. This is How You Get Better is the sequel to Courting Samira.
Beyond Veiled Cliches
Magnificent. Surprising. Illuminating. Australia needs this book. NIKKI GEMMELL As someone who has a foot in both the Western and Arabic worlds, Amal set out to explore the lives of Arab women, in Australia and the Middle East, travelling to the region and interviewing more than sixty women about feminism, intimacy, love, sex and shame, trauma, war, religion and culture. Beyond Veiled Clich�s explores the similarities and differences experienced by these women in their daily lives - work, relationships, home and family life, friendships, the communities they live in, and more. Arab-Australian women are at the intersection - between Western ideals and Arab tradition. It can get messy, but there is also great beauty in the layers. In a time of racial tension and rising global fear around terrorism, there is a renewed fear of 'the other'. At its heart this fascinating book normalises people and their experiences. The breadth, variety and beauty of what Amal has discovered will enthral and surprise you.
