Asghar and Zahra by Sameer Rahim

Asghar and Zahra

Sameer Rahim

Not so much a culture clash, but a clash of personalities lies behind this bittersweet (and surprisingly risque) comedy of manners, as newlyweds from the same Muslim community struggle to adjust to married life. Their story, added to the background social commentary, provides a more entertaining glimpse than usual into the conflict between traditional Muslim community values and those of modern British society.

Extract
He pulled out The Making of an Islamic Marriage hoping to find some last minute advice. He flicked to the final page and found some faded quotations he hadn't noticed before. His heart beat faster. Maybe this was the secret knowledge for which the booklet had been famed? He read the first saying: 'When a man sits amid his wife's four parts and presses her to the limit, a ritual bath becomes obligatory on him. ' ...
What on earth were these 'four parts'? Unless he had been drastically misled there was only one part to worry about.

Parallels
  • On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
  • A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
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Explicit sexual Content