Books on Our Radar: An Emotion of Great Delight by Tahereh Mafi
An Emotion of Great Delight by Tahereh Mafi is the next historical fiction (or possibly semi-contemporary) novel and I absolute cannot wait to read. I really hope this one is on your radar for the June 1st release, and if you haven’t read A Very Large Expanse of Sea, I really recommend it! While the books may not be direct sequels, they do both touch on the same topics of being an Muslim teen from an immigrant family and the effects of 9/11 and the subsequent war. Those tears on the cover are totally on par for how I am definitely going to cry while reading this one, because I cry from most of Tahereh’s books, but especially from AVLEOS, so I expect no less from An Emotion of Great Delight.
An Emotion of Great Delight
by Tahereh MafiPublished by: HarperCollins
on June 1, 2021
Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult
Audible
Goodreads
From bestselling and National Book Award-nominated author Tahereh Mafi comes a stunning novel about love and loneliness, navigating the hyphen of dual identity, and reclaiming your right to joy--even when you're trapped in the amber of sorrow.
It's 2003, several months since the US officially declared war on Iraq, and the American political world has evolved. Tensions are high, hate crimes are on the rise, FBI agents are infiltrating local mosques, and the Muslim community is harassed and targeted more than ever. Shadi, who wears hijab, keeps her head down.
She's too busy drowning in her own troubles to find the time to deal with bigots.Shadi is named for joy, but she's haunted by sorrow. Her brother is dead, her father is dying, her mother is falling apart, and her best friend has mysteriously dropped out of her life. And then, of course, there's the small matter of her heart--
It's broken.
Shadi tries to navigate her crumbling world by soldiering through, saying nothing. She devours her own pain, each day retreating farther and farther inside herself until finally, one day, everything changes.
She explodes.
An Emotion of Great Delight is a searing look into the world of a single Muslim family in the wake of 9/11. It's about a child of immigrants forging a blurry identity, falling in love, and finding hope--in the midst of a modern war.
