I gave myself a surprising number of challenges in writing my debut novel Under The Full and Crescent Moon. This was not a result of losing a bet or giving myself a personal dare or anything like that. It’s just what the story that had been churning inside my head for years demanded.
Not only is the book about a young woman, Khadija, growing up and discovering her own power and place in the world, and not only is it set in a very particular time in history, but it also addresses weighty matters on what it means to be Muslim and tackles commonly misunderstood terms such as Sharia, and fatwas. On top of all that it imagines a society that is not only complaint with Islamic Law (or Sharia), but is a matriarchy to boot.
In addition to all of that that, I am very much not a young woman, and I was incredibly worried about not being able to write authentically from that perspective.
Needless to say, the draft of the novel that I started to show agents and publishers was a bit on the bloated side. I am grateful to the excellent editors I have had who trimmed out a lot of the detailed description I had put in on the minutiae of the workings of the economic and political systems of the world I had imagined. I truly believe the final version of the book is about as perfect as it can be.
It has been incredibly gratifying to read reviews and get feedback from so many people that none of these different parts of the story overwhelm the other and I did not botch writing characters with a different lived experience than mine. I am so grateful to the women who were my beta readers who gave me the encouragement I needed to keep going.
Ultimately, the core of the story is Khadija and the challenges she is forced to face, some external, and some personal. I truly hope her journey resonates with readers and I thank them for their kind attention to my words.