The Royal Abduls
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Ramiza Shamoun Koya reveals the devastating cost of anti-Muslim sentiment in The Royal Abduls, her debut novel about an Indian-America family. Evolutionary biologist Amina Abdul accepts a post-doc in Washington, DC, choosing her career studying hybrid zones over a faltering West Coast romance. Her brother and sister-in-law welcome her to the city, but their marriage is crumbling, and they soon rely on her to keep their son company. Omar, hungry to understand his cultural roots, fakes an Indian accent, invents a royal past, and peppers his aunt with questions about their cultural heritage. When he brings an ornamental knife to school, his expulsion triggers a downward spiral for his family, even as Amina struggles to find her own place in an America now at war with people who look like her. With The Royal Abduls, Ramiza Koya ignites the canon of post-9/11 literature with a deft portrait of second-generation American identity.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Koya's accomplished debut examines Indian-American identity and bigotry against a Muslim family after 9/11. In 2005, newly arrived in Washington, D.C., to start postdoc research on wild silk moths, Amina Abdul tries to help her brother Mohammed deal with his imploding marriage. Meanwhile, her 11-year-old nephew, Omar, elicits scrutiny after bringing Amina's decorative Indian knife to show his classmates ("In these times, a Muslim child brings a knife to school we can't just not report it," the principal says to Amina, explaining why she called the police). After Omar watches al-Qaeda videos online, the family's ISP reports his activity to the police, who arrest Mohammed and briefly detain him. Meanwhile, Amina faces sexism in the workplace as her lab work is overlooked. Further complicating things is Amina's romance with a coworker's brother, whom she is unwilling to tell about a job offer in India. As Amina considers the move, she continues to worry about Mohammed and Omar, who both self-destruct in their own ways as they struggle to find their place and navigate their identity. Koya writes sharply about what it means to be South Asian in the U.S. after 9/11, and skillfully weaves the family members' conflicts and predicaments. This is a mature, fully realized effort.
