To be honest, I started to dislike Carolyn after a while. The three protagonists could not be more different: There's Ammi, the faithful Muslim, firmly rooted in the traditions of her country and relgion Carolyn, a young American from a dysfunctional family, already pregnant with another man's child by the time she falls for Ammi's middle son, converting to Islam out of love, without a real idea what that means and finally there's Ivy, another young American woman, but already very much a faithful and happy Muslim by the time she marries Ammi's youngest son. It is a quiet, calm novel about one family's women and how they deal with religion, faith, traditions and the expectations that arise from these.

But 'Whispers from the East' is different. These days, you expect pretty much anything from a novel about a Muslim family - arranged marriages, suicide bombers, terrorism and general drama and tragedy. Weaving western expectations of love and family with extensive cultural and religious differences, she enjoys writing stories that bridge divides and offer a peek into these diverse, often controversial relationships. The collision of two belief systems-two worlds-come to a head as Ammi, Carolyn, and Ivy fight to keep their own marriages, families, and futures secure.Īmie Ali's stories focus on the lives of Western women who find love among the cultural breadth of Middle Eastern, North African, and South Asian countries. Three women who stand to lose everything. The other commits apostasy, the sin of all sins. Two of Ammi's beloved sons immigrate to the United States and secretly marry dazzling, contemporary American brides. Ammi, a pregnant 24-year-old, flees New Delhi with millions of Muslim migrants in the early hours of the 1947 Partition of India, clawing her way through a controversial caste system and into the heart of Lahori society.

Whispers from the East by Amie Ali