Shelina Zahra Janmohamed of the Spirit 21 blog has written an excellent review of this controversial and offensive book. I hope that others who want to tackle this issue will do so in a similar fashion. The BBC also published the review on their site.

The Jewel of Medina is a chest-heaving, brassiere-busting book of outrageously tacky historical romantic fiction.

Some parts of the media are suggesting that this book is at the forefront of defending free speech. The author wants it to reach out to solve our global problems of intercultural dialogue. Between them they had me rolling around on the floor laughing.

The book claims to tell the story of Aisha, the wife of the Prophet Muhammad, through her own eyes, from the age of six, through adolescence and into adulthood. But although she lives through one of the most dramatic periods of history, the narrative conveys little of the enormity of the changes of the era, and of which Aisha was a huge part. . . . .

[see the Spirit 21 Blog for the full review]