The Kindness of Enemies deserves two ratings - 5 stars for the portion of it that is set in the 1850s (in the Caucauses and in Russia), in the third person, and focused primarily on Imam Shamil, a highlander Muslim warrior at war with the Russians (an actual historical figure) and Anna, a Georgian married to a Russian, whom Shamil takes and holds hostage for several months, and a 2.5 for the portion of it that is set in contemporary times and focuses on Natasha Wilson, in Scotland and the Sudan,...

I have never read anything by Leila Aboulela before; but knowing she has won the Caine Prize, the Scottish Book Award and has been shortlisted for several other awards, as well as having two books on the Orange Prize long list, I was eager to review this new book. Aboulela grew up in Khartoum and now lives in Scotland and both places feature in this novel which makes use of the now much over-used dual time line, taking place both in contemporary Scotland and Sudan and has a historical storyline

This fascinating and wonderful novel flicks back and forth telling two parallel stories and linking two different time periods. It's a book about multiculturalism, understanding other cultures and finding one's own identity in a multicultural world. Leila Aboulela creates the character Natasha, a history professor living in Scotland in 2010 as a bridge between the two time periods. Born in Sudan of a Russian mother and Sudanese father, Natasha refers to herself as "a failed hybrid". She has los...

Earlier this year I read my first book by Leila Aboulela Bird Summons. I really enjoyed it for so many reasons, which can be read in my review here, but it also confirmed that I wanted to read more from this author and so I chose as the next book to read, one I have had my eye on for some years, but refused to buy because of the terrible cover. That might sound whimsical, but I think that earlier cover does this book a great disservice, the way it turns readers away.I was completely drawn into t...

Identity and belonging.It took me quite a while to get into this book, I kept putting it down because it just wasn't grabbing me. Having given four stars to Lyric's Alley by the same author this was a bit disappointing, but I persevered and as a result I have learned about a time in history that I was totally unaware of. And there was a reward - it turns out that during a trip to Georgia I had actually visited the villa where Anna and her children were spending that fateful summer.I had thought

The flames of Sept. 11, 2001, not only recast America’s future, they illuminated a long-neglected history of conflict between the West and certain strains of Islam. Suddenly, for many of us, the present day had malignant roots we’d never recognized. Salman Rushdie recently added to the library of books on this vast subject with “Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights,” a surprisingly whimsical story about warring genies reigniting an ancient battle in the modern age. And now comes anothe...

In this beautifully written book by Leila Aboulela there are two stories: One is the story of Natasha, half Sudanese-half Russian, who has grown up in Scotland and lost all of her roots. The other is the story of Imam Shamil, a Muslim warrior battling the Russians in the 19th century and of Princess Anna of Georgia, whom he takes hostage in exchange for the return of his son Jamaleldin, who in turn has been a hostage of the Tsar since he was a young boy.This is a book in which most of characters...

When news broke last week of attacks in Beirut, Paris, and other cities around the world, as I always do, I turned to fiction to help make sense of the ongoing tragedy. Of course there isn’t any real sense to be found in the violent deaths of innocents; there never is. But suddenly my reading of The Kindness of Enemies took on a new urgency. Now more than ever, understanding Islam feels like an imperative, and more importantly, marking the distinction between its earnest practitioners and its ex...

"The Kindness of Enemies," by @leilaaboulela, is a beautiful and haunting read that weaves together the personal turmoil of Natasha Hussein, a half-Russian, half-Sudanese history professor, and the great Imam Shamil, the leader of the European mujahideen against Tzarist Russia. I quickly found myself deeply immersed in the perspectives of both Imam Shamil and his son, Jamaleldin - and, unexpectedly, Princess Anna of Georgia, a noblewoman who is kidnapped and held as a hostage to bargain for Jama...

Reading Leila Aboulela for the first time. “The Kindness of Enemies” is a dual narrative; one story takes place in Scotland in 2010, while the other story is based on the life of Imam Shamil (a Muslim political and religious leader, who fought against the Russians) and takes place predominantly in the Caucasus region around 1850s.In the contemporary story, we meet a history professor Natasha Wilson (Hussein), who is half Sudanese and half Russian. Her parents divorced when she was young and she

The Kindness of Enemies by Leila Aboulela weaves two interlocking stories set approximately 150 years apart. Beginning in Scotland in 2010, one story is of Natasha Wilson (aka Hussein), a professor of mixed Sudanese and Russian heritage, torn between her two cultures and trying to define her place in the world. The second story is of Imam Shamil, a Muslim leader and member of the Naqshbandi Sufi order, who lead the resistance to Russian occupation of the Caucasus in the mid-1800s. The thread tha...

This was a 4.5 read for me.Thoughts coming shortly

2.5An unlikeable protagonist can make or break a book some times. As much as I loved and enjoyed reading the historical timeline I noticed the “modern” characters flaws staying with me longer.

most conflicted ive been reading a "fictional" bookenojyed reading the historical parts, the POV of jamal, shamil, anna (5/5)anything 2010 was a 2 pack of ass from "dr wilson" to Malak (1/5)edit...after a few days of contemplatingthis book gets a 2/5

The kindness of Enemies by Leila Aboulela was a Goodreads First Reads winThis is a book about identity and belonging. It questions whether religious identity is with you from birth, or whether upbringing and culture are the main forces which create it. Two stories interweave, one in the present, one in the nineteenth century. In both stories there are displaced people. In the past story, a warrior (Shamil) fights to defend his country (the Caucasus) against Russian invasion. He fights for his cu...

This is an amazing book. Leila Aboulela is a fine writer who covers new ground. One part of this story is set in Dagestan in the 19th century as it rebels against Russia. The other part is the story of a woman who is half Russian and half Sudanese who lives in Scotland and studies history. She's fascinated by the revolt in Dagestan that the other part of the book discusses. How wonderful it is to learn about places I've never read about before! Imam Shamil, the leader of the Muslim resistance t

Natasha Wilson is a history professor at a university in Scotland with an interest in 19th-century Russian history, specifically the anti-Russian resistance movement. One of her students, Oz Raja, is reportedly a descendant of one of the most popular leaders of this movement. Befriending this student and his mother sets Natasha on an amazing adventure of self-discovery and reconnecting with her past in The Kindness of Enemies by Leila Aboulela.At the age of fourteen, Natasha Hussein was adopted

I can't really explain why I love this. Okay, for a start, it wasn't anything I expected. I envisioned something a little more thriller, I guess, or contemporary political stuff. And sure, Oz's plight is a significant part of this story, but I was enraptured by the flashbacks to the life and times of Shamil, Anna, and Jamaleldin. That... was... Epic is the only word for it.I have always loved Russian history, but for me, that was the Russian revolution and onwards. This step back, and the histor...

a favorite topic of mine is caucasus mountains area and this new novel promised a bit to fictionalize the saga of shamir freedom fighting against imperial russia in mid 1800's, and the thread ofhis son being given as collateral for treating, but was hustled off to st peterburg and became a russian military guy, a favorite of czar but a pawn and a tool, ultimately. meanwhile, this novel has a contemporary thread of scottish uni prof, origianlly from sudan, her dad sudan muslim, her mom russian,

An absolutely engrossing read from Leila Aboulela with dual storylines: One of present day Scotland and radical jihad terrorism accusations and another of 19th century Muslim religious leader, Iman Shamil, The Lion of Dagestan, and the anti-Russian resistance in the Caucasian War. This Caine Prize winner weaves a wonderful tale in a region and fight I knew very little about. I learned a lot from this fantastic novel and one of those things is not to overlook the unfamiliar. Or said differently,