Book Review: Broken – Not a halal love story
“A rare and honest insight into a battle between the heart and mind.”
“Letting go of something nameless should be easy.
It’s the web we’ve created that’s difficult to untangle.
It takes a lifetime to scratch out the oaths,
to unlearn the imaginary traces of fingertips on skin.”
– Fatima Bala
When I came across a book with dark-skinned characters on the book cover and a girl in a scarf with a tagline that said, ‘Not a halal love story.’ I immediately read the first chapter. ‘Halal’ for the uninitiated is Arabic for ‘permissible’ or within stipulated confines that people of the Islamic faith greatly adhere to. Think halal food and halal investing.
Most novels with Muslim characters usually are categorized as halal, and they are chaste stories with barely a kiss or a handshake as unmarried members of the opposite gender do not touch except they are family. Think kosher for purity and innocence. Broken is none of that. It has steamy scenes and sexually charged conversations. The tagline serves as both a hook and a disclaimer. Broken shows flawed characters in a relatable way in today’s modern age as the conversation on the ongoing battle between right and wrong gets harder to discuss, especially in relationships. The author, Fatima Bala, a Nigerian – Canadian living in British Columbia, balances the delicate nuances of religion, faith, sexuality, and heartbreak in a way that respects the sensibilities of Muslim readers without completely alienating readers who know nothing about Islam.
The build-up and tension between the main characters is a trope well used in romance stories, think Beauty and the Beast. She is an innocent girl from a conservative home whose every decision has been governed by the phrase, ‘what will people think?’ and he is a hard-to-resist bad boy who makes her question all the values she embodies, including sex before marriage. When her walls come crashing down, it’s all fast-paced from there. Suddenly, they find that they cannot get married due to an Islamic ruling regarding children suckled by the same woman, and I found myself deeply invested in the devastatingly emotional, and heartbreakingly beautiful story that carries us along on their journey to redemption and finding purpose in their life without each other. Centering Muslim women and their unique journeys is her forte as all of Bala’s protagonists are women around ages 18 to 26, a demographic now largely considered ‘new adult’ or coming of age stories, it is apt that this is a story of finding self and meaning while balancing the delicate rope between Deen (faith), and Dunya, (life.)
Broken – Not a halal love story is available on Amazon in print and Kindle.
Rating 4/5
