Amal Awad

Set in Sydney, Australia, Courting Samira is a charming and frothy romantic comedy about a twenty-seven-year-old Muslim woman who finds herself in an unexpected love triangle--a sparkling ode to meddling best friends, traditional courtship, The Princess Bride, and, of course, the possibility of love. Coming from a moderately traditional Muslim family, twenty-seven-year-old Samira Abdel-Aziz has endured her fair share of arranged matches--first dates she calls "doorknock appeals," where she and her possible suitors eat snacks in her living room in the company of both sets of parents. Her general rule: no shoes with tassels, no cheesy leather jackets, no mustaches. A girl has to have some standards, right? The truth is, Samira is already experiencing enough wedding drama as an assistant at Bridal Bazaar magazine and as a gofer for her soon-to-be-married cousin and nemesis Zahra. She's not sure she needs to add any of her own. When she meets the charismatic Menem at a work retreat, Samira finds herself intrigued. But her best friend Lara insists Menem isn't right for her, and now her childhood friend Hakeem has begun behaving oddly. Adding to the confusion, Samira is offered a promotion, yet isn't sure it's the job of her dreams. Suddenly, her life is full of drama and complications, and she realizes that part of growing up is making difficult choices about what--and whom--she really wants.

A Novel

Courting Samira

Jazelle H

How could I have any chance of a normal relationship when the options were marriage or being alone, with nothing in-between?

This was Hakeem and I without banter and quotes, perhaps looking in the same direction but arguing about which road to take to get there.

I didn’t want my existence to rest on what everyone else thought about me or wanted for me. I wondered how long I had been this way: not really moving forward but sideways.

Courting Samira quotes

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