The Consequences of Love by Sulaiman Addonia

The Consequences of Love

Sulaiman Addonia

This tale of forbidden passion is tense and provocative. Naser is an outsider who yearns for romance in a country where the police watch your every move and both foreigners and women are treated as second-class citizens. For me, a compelling insight into a world of marginalised men, with startling observations of a society in which men and women are imprisoned by misconceptions and hatred. I cared passionately about the fate of Nasser and Fiore.

Extract
I shook my head and sat back on the pavement and looked around to see if anyone was watching. What sort of trick was this? I folded the paper so that it was even smaller and pressed it deep inside my pocket.

The street was deserted again. I lit a cigarette and tried to look calm but thoughts and questions raced through my head. What a mad thing to do. Did the woman not know that the religious police watched our every move? And how could she possibly trust me? What if I were a traditionalist, a conservative; someone who would detest her actions as being un-Islamic? I might have followed her home and informed the man of her household on her.
Parallels
  • Ali and Nino by Kurban Said
  • The Wasted Vigil by Nadeen Aslam
  • The Map of Love by Ahdaf Soueif