Ilham Essalih is a book reviewer, researcher, and Bookstagrammer (@ilhamreads) based in London. She specialises in postcolonial literatures from the MENA region and diasporas.
Book Club: Celestial Bodies is a complex intergenerational story set in the Omani village of al-Awafi, covering themes of love, slavery, madness and abuse.
Book Club: Asma Lamrabet attempts to debunk what she believes are 'myths' surrounding Muslim women by discussing and reinterpreting Quranic verses that directly address them.
Book Club: Elif Shafak's Black Milk is a beautiful and touching memoir delving into her attempts to balance motherhood with a writing career while dealing with postpartum depression.
Book Club: A beautiful and articulate novel, Silence is My Mother Tongue fuses themes of feminism, war and postcolonialism, portraying the story of refugees far from today's one-dimensional depiction.
Book Club: Notes on the Flesh is groundbreaking in its raw representation of disability and pain. It crushes taboos and speaks up about gender injustice in the Middle East.
Book Club: From short stories, to poetry and essays, The Things I would Tell You, successfully shows the diversity among British Muslim women, writes Ilham Essalih.
Book Club: Dina Torkia's debut book embraces style, entertainment and emotion, successfully portraying a refreshing, positive and uplifting representation of Muslim women, writes Ilham Essalih.
