Normal Calm

by Hend Hegazi

Amina is an Arab American woman attending one of the best universities in the US. During the spring of her junior year, Amina experiences the ultimate betrayal by someone she had considered a brother. Her rape makes her essentially unmarriageable in the eyes of her parents and, possibly, the entire Arab community. When her mother experiences a nervous breakdown, Amina fears that she is responsible for her mother's condition. Her mother's behavior suggests that even she blames Amina.Eventually Amina falls in love with Sherif. When he learns of her rape, will he stand by her, or will he prove himself unworthy of her love and abandon her? Will Amina ever find the noble man she sees in her dreams, or will she decide to settle for a life without love?

324 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Hend was born and raised in the USA. She graduated from Smith College with a major in biology and a minor in religion. She is a writing coach and the editorial director of Muslimah Writers, an online organization devoted to helping women develop their writing skills and produce their books. Her own fiction and poetry often shed light on the Muslim American experience. Hend lives with her husband and four kids in Alexandria, Egypt.

Reviews

[آية · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

I first read this when I was in high school. A lot of things didn't make sense to me then--especially the concept of falling in love after marriage, not before. Based on all the novels and movies I've read by that age, I was certain that love needed to be before marriage, and it was completely unromantic any other way.

I didn't appreciate this book much at the time. But that concept stuck with me all those years. And so I decided to read it again, to see if maybe the book would speak to me more now that I'm older.

And it did.

Normal Calm is refreshing because of how realistic it feels. The romance is there, but it's not exaggerated. It's not a whole bunch of horny passion--instead, it's finding comfort, support, respect, and appreciation. Amina's journey from being a college student to a young professional, all the while meeting different potential suitors along the way, is very realistic and I'm sure is very relatable to a lot of young Muslim American women (perhaps excluding the part where she was raped). I love SK Ali just as much as the next Muslim girl, but we know the romance there is often *extra* romanticized if that makes sense--to the point of average Muslim girls like me finding it very hard to believe that men like Adam exist. But the love interest in this book offers something that feels more real yet still wholesome and romantic--and the author managed to convince me to root for them even though they were not crazy in love before deciding to get married. Kudos to the author for portraying something that I know many Muslim couples go through--and end up with successful, long lasting marriages.

This is one of those rare gems in which faith/Islam is not the main point of conflict/struggle even though the protagonist is a hijabi Muslim American. Faith is just second nature to her. It's there, effortlessly, woven into the narrative, into how the MC sees the world and interacts with it. The MC doesn't have an existential crisis over it but rather she's always used it to form her worldview. The problems lie in other areas of her life, and she sometimes uses Islam to face them, but the book is never preachy about it.

I love Amina - she is practical, hardworking, introverted with a few close friends, sincerely wants to make Allah happy, and loves/respects her parents despite their disagreements. But she's not a Mary Sue--she makes mistakes, struggles, and gets angry and hurt.

I wish there were more details at times--her major in college, where in America Amina lived exactly, distinguishing personalities/quirks of Amina's friends, and so on. Perhaps it's just that this is the author's first book. But I mean it when I say this is really good Muslim representation, and that is something that is both hard to accomplish and rare to come by.

[Huda Al-Anbar · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I saw this book advertised on a Goodreads giveaways as an ARC. Since then it was on my wish list. The synonops was captivating. Then amazon.com put the ebook on sale for 3.99$ and I quickly proceeded to check out.

Normal calm tells the story of Ameena, an Arab American, an average girl, going about her life. When she was raped by one of her collage friends, a dark mark is left on her. Ameena has to face her parents, her friends and tell them the truth. But all is bearable until she gets proposed to, and she has to tell her future husband that she is no longer a virgin. Which for an Arab man, makes a big difference.

I like the idea, as an avid SVU:special victims unit fan, rape stories and their aftermath intrigue me. And this was no different.

That being said, I honestly wish Ameena had more despair and feelings to show. Her agony was not as strong as I one would expect. I felt as if she handled it a bit lightly for a Muslim. There was no build up.

The description of her family were so accurate it was funny: her mother who wears a bucket load of gold for each and every occasion, her father who turns in the "what-are-your intentions-towards my daughter"tone every-time a male glances in his daughter's direction.

I hate happily ever after endings, not all issues can be resolved by the end of a book. But nonetheless, it was a good read. Waiting for your next book Ms. Hegazi.

[Marwah S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to say that I had a very rare and very special experiance with this book. I'm usually a fast reader and could've finished this book in a day but chose to savor and almost study every piece of it for a course of months, reading and sharing it with my best friend. It was my treat at the end of a long day or an exciting moment on the weekend. I have to say I learned alot from this book. I love the way it captivated my attention from the beginning. Although I wanted more build-up that lead to the rape and in a way despite not liking graphic details, I wanted to empathize more with Amina from an emotional stand point during the inicident; thinking this was the main event in the story. After getting deeper into the story however, I completely understood why there wasn't so much elaboration on the actual event, but the after math. I definitely felt the aftermath process from start to finish, was written brilliantly. First reading it, I thought the story was going to focus on the controversial aspect of rape in Middle Eastern society, but no, the concept that I got was much, much, deeper and greater than I expected. It's about faith, acceptance, hope, perseverance and most of all, what true love is all about. This book with its suttle and simple refreshing style of storytelling, changed my outlook on the definition of love. That true love isn't about passion, attraction, and butterflies as we are trained and raised to believe, but ultimately about acceptance and faith. The ending blew me away as the authors small little touches like how beautiful she speaks of her faith, making it such a highly spiritual and enlightening experience. I immensely enjoyed and learned so much from this book and recommend it anyone who wants, a truly good read:)

[Saba N Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really good read despite it not being a book/genre I usually enjoy. The story touches on the subject of rape and how it is handled or viewed in Arab Muslim communities. Rape in general is viewed as "the woman's fault" in almost every culture but it is disturbingly so in Muslim communities because the responsibility of upholding ones dignity and honor is majorly placed on the woman. What is unfair about the practice is that it is not a religious thing. The Muslim faith places the responsibility equally and fairly on men and women to protect themselves and each other but somehow, somewhere, someone misinterpreted and placed it on women.

I enjoyed Normal Calm because Amina was/is a strong character. I loved that she stayed true to herself. Knowing the stigma placed on non-virgins, even rape victims, in her community, she did not allow the incident to change her character, her integrity when it came time to discuss marriage to potential partners.In all of her relationships, she was true to herself and those around, and that was her biggest asset, that is what strengthened her and her relationships.

There is much needed discussions in our communities, discussions that will help heal, strengthen and finally put an end to the victim blaming society tends to do when a woman, girl, or child is raped or abused.

[Consuelo Murgia · Rating 4 out of 5]

The plot of this book had all the right ingredients to captivate my attention: a female character, a tragic event that will change her life, the prejudice of her own people and the clash between different cultures, but it didn’t turn out exactly as I expected.

Normal Calm is the bittersweet story of Amina, an American woman of Egyptian descent. She lives between two worlds eating pancakes and wearing a headscarf. Her parents are a mixture of tradition and modernity. They allow Amina to live alone for four years while she is in college, but they think she shouldn’t be too intimate with her fiancée.

Amina doesn’t complain because she shares their same values. When we get to know her college friends we find out that Sahar’s family comes from Pakistan and Layal has blue eyes and blond hair. They have different origins, but they are all part of the same religion. The same is true for her male friends: the black Tariq and Rami who is of Egyptian descent. The only exception is her childhood friend Kayla with blond hair and hazel eyes who doesn’t know if God exists and who Amina hopes and actively tries to convert to her faith. At the end of the book we don’t know yet if Amina succeeded in her intent, but before that we are told that Layal chooses to start covering her head and accepts to marry a man who doesn’t love, even if this makes her unhappy. Reading all this is a painful suffering, but the plot is so captivating that it’s almost impossible to take a break before the end.

Amina biggest problem is that she was raped by her friend Rami. Virginity in her community, like it was in others until some decades ago, is still an essential condition to find a husband. Amina falls in love for the Egyptian architect Sherif who lives in Chicago and feels the need to tell him the truth, even if her mother advised her otherwise and wanted her to undergo a surgery to restore her physical integrity. Sherif doesn’t accept Amina as she is because he has no way to know how many men she slept with. Only women must hide their body till the end of their days and preserve their virginity until marriage.

Amina goes on with her life and after graduation she finds a job as a chemist. She drives a car, but her parents convince her to decline a promotion to avoid her staying at work during the night. Amina’s mother is so eager to find a suitable husband for her only daughter that she looks like the mothers of some 19th century English novels.

Amina turns down the candidate chosen by her mother, but she accepts the engagement with Mazin. He is a good-looking dentist whose parents live in Egypt and he treats her well, but Amina doesn’t love him. Anyway she starts planning the wedding and a few moments before the ceremony she tells him about the rape. Amina is really surprised when she finds out that her father had already told him about that and Mazin accepted her past probably because he didn’t blame her for what had happened, since she had lost her virginity against her will. The same Mazin however had decided to cancel his wedding with a girl who revealed him she had sex with her former boyfriend. It seems to read one of those old comedies or fairy tales where a prince falls in love with a poor girl but at the end of the story we are told that in reality she was the lost daughter of some king and this is why their marriage, which at the beginning looked so subversive, is in reality socially acceptable.

I discovered this book through a giveaway on Goodreads. Unfortunately I wasn’t the winner, but I decided to buy it. The binding is really well done, even if the book was published by a very small publishing house and it’s a pity having found some misspelled words like “heeled” instead of “healed”, “states” (the United States) without the capitalization of the first letter, “bad been” which should have been “had been” and so on.

[Eman Adel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too shallow,
From the book cover , it mentioned Muslim Arab girl living in USA, I was expecting that it would describe Muslim girls lives/ struggle
But the book was disappointing

[Jennifer Olson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had the pleasure of receiving this book through a first-reads giveaway. The book was a bit slow to start, and I was worried it was going to turn into a story with a canned message rather than a sensitive treatment of the stigma attached to rape within Arab and Muslim communities in the US. I was glad I read on. I found myself drawn into the story of Amina, her family, friends and relationships. The rape happens at the beginning and isn't very graphic. The book focuses more on the after-effects as her family struggles to deal with what has happened and she tries to find a spouse who will accept her as she is. I was really drawn into Amina's relationship with her parents as they try to both support their daughter and also deal with something that is taboo in their community. I had a hard time putting the book down, wondering what was going to happen to Amina and whether she'd find healing and happiness in the end. My only dislike with this book was that I wish faith had been dealt with in more depth. I appreciate having more books with Muslim characters but the main places where Islam came up were in discussions with her non-Muslim friend, Kayla, that, in an otherwise believable friendship, felt simplistic and soapboxy (reminding me a bit of badly written Christian fiction). Overall, though, a good book, and I hope I can see more books featuring Muslim characters and dealing with topics affecting the Muslim-American community.

[Leigh Fortier lanzoni · Rating 5 out of 5]

There were so many things I enjoyed about this book. It was a fast and easy read, and it truly kept me turning the page. I am always SO curious about other people's religions and cultures and the whys behind their practices and for the first time ever I felt my questions were being answered in a way that didn't make me feel like I was sitting in a classroom. The fact that there was a glossary in the back was one of my favorite parts and I used it constantly.
As I read it initially, I felt like I could tell this was the author's first novel due to the simplistic writing style. What was an eye opener for me, and something I did not consider before, I realized when I went to a book signing for the book. Most of the people at the signing spoke English as a second language. And although the author was born English speaking, I had to wonder if there wasn't a piece of her during her writing that wanted to make it more readable for a broader audience. The style also made me feel like this would make an excellent addition to a high school reading list. The rape scene is not at all graphic, and I feel that especially in this day and age our youth need to broaden their perspective about the Muslim community. There are just too many misconceptions. It was such a breath of fresh air to have such a strong, Muslim, female character.

[Awatef Fares · Rating 5 out of 5]

i really enjoyed that great book ..i loved it so much .. i felt like i want to read it again and again... it reflects a great issue in the society with all its details that can happen to anyone and how much suffering and conflicts they may experience.
i also loved the comparisons in between the story that reflects some of the differences in different societies without going through details...
the writer had a great sense of reflecting the emotions in that story that i really felt i am that girl Amina for sometime and i felt her happiness, suffering and love.
it made me so curious about whats next... and for the 1st time i finished a book that quickly in my whole life.

[Omayma]

I would give it 1 or 2 stars!

I received this book from a friend as a gift, I thought about giving it a try. Actually it is a flat story, no depth in the characters, expected events, repeated phrases and expressions, simple language.
It was like someone was narrating a story with simple language, or writing a blog post trying to convey some of her beliefs or address some of the situations she lived. I even felt at some points there were Arabic expressions translated to English instead of writing equivalent terms.

So I think the author needs to work on her writing skills to come up with something better in the future.

[Noelle Walsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book. It really touched on how rape is viewed in society and how it needs to change. It was in no way the character's fault she was raped, not hers at all and yet she was still blamed for it. Even so she remained true to herself, her integrity and dignity. After finishing this book, I find myself curious as to what this author will write next. With such a wonderful first book, on that is so enlightening in it descriptions and emotions (in my view, at least), I think I would expect great things from this author in the future.



*won on GoodReads First Reads*

[Papatia Feauxzar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! The subject of the book is an issue that transcends many many cultures such as West African, Asian, and so forth besides Arab ones. I loved it! I had a slow start with the first three chapters but once I got passed them, I could not stop reading. It kept me up all night. The story felt real and was very moving on many levels. Can't wait to read another of Hegazi's novels! Excellent job! :)

[Umm Afraz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Normal Calm is a simple story revolving around Amina, an Arab-American student, who is raped by one of her friends. Unmarriageable according to her culture, her life takes her through a journey where she experiences depression and loneliness. Through her childhood friend, she learns to trust people again, and puts her past behind her. She meets Sherif and they fall in love. They soon share their secrets with each other. What happens once he knows of her rape? This is where the plot begins.

This engrossing novel had me gripped to it every night, till 2 am - needless to say, my kids were on vacation then.

I liked that the author had introduced certain concepts of Islam to the reader, albeit a bit preachy in some places, but perhaps that was meant to be since Amina was giving da'wah to her childhood friend Kayla.
Kayla's character seemed a tad surreal to me. I mean, I would be over the moon if I had that type of friend who would be with me at my every beck-and-call. Apart from that, she seemed to be a broad-minded girl who only thought the best for, and of, you. She is someone who respects and acknowledges you for you. This is the type of friend every woman needs, and every woman must strive to be, regardless of her religious beliefs.

Having read Hend Hegazi's second book, Behind Picket Fences, first, I could see the stark difference between the two books she has authored. She has grown beautifully as an author in her writing style, and the edits are splendid in her second book.

Nevertheless, Normal Calm is a book that will have you smiling, empathizing, and crying for the characters. A very well-written book by Hend Hegazi.

[Secret_ · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title has caught my attention, of course. What would show up in your mind when you caught the word "Muslim American"?

So here are my thoughts on this book.
To me, this is a smooth read. I can feel the emotion for the main character of course since I am also a Muslim like her. Amina, a Muslim American Girl who is passionate and powerful.
I don't feel contented enough with her parents' character at some moments, but it's normal since Amina is the only child and the only daughter they have.

What I enjoy most about this book is the friendship connection between Amina and Kayla. Two girls have different beliefs, but that does not and would never destroy their friendship. l admired Kayla, she is so caring for her Muslim friend and always respected whatever Amina does to defend her honor. Alike with Amina, she never once forced and pressed Kayla to believe in Islam, and one thing I like the most about them both is Kayla who has an intention to seek the existence of God, and Amina, her bestie who is always there for Kayla and willing to guide her with any time and anywhere, and convince her with some advice, even though Kayla was not that easy to alter her belief but Amina never tried to argue her, yet she always respected Kayla no matter what.

I like the storyline in this book, but a little note, in the beginning, I think that this book will focus more on the story of Amina and Kayla as two friends with different beliefs, and how Kayla finally found the answers to her questions about God all this time. But in fact, this book is more focused on the Love story.

However, I like this book, and the many moralities I got by exploring this book.
This is the first book I've read from the author and of course it won't be the last, I'm looking forward to her next books. 💗💗💗

[Miss Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

how do i put this? this felt like a story told by someone not particularly good at storytelling -- i really wish the prose has been better because i wanted to like this more than i did. still, glad to hit my 2018 book goal on a novel with a muslim lead; i didn't read as many of them this year as i would've liked

2.5 stars

[SISTERS Magazine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since I did not receive a back cover or any other information about Normal Calm before reading it, I was very surprised when the main character, Amina, was raped, and especially near the beginning of the novel before any momentum to her story had built up. Normal Calm is the story of how rape impacted Amina and, to a slight degree, her family’s lives. Though Muslims are not immune to the statistical average of one in three or one in four women being sexually assaulted in her lifetime, this is a topic seldom touched upon in the greater Muslim community, so I am glad to see the author, Hend Hegazi, take the subject on.

The rape itself is not graphically depicted. Amina deals with it in a fairly pragmatic way, deciding to go straight into a group therapy programme so that she can get the support that she needs to finish her university studies. Amina reveals her ordeal to her close friends, her family – and then what to do about any potential spouses?

Though I can understand how a rape survivor can technically be concerned no longer a virgin due to having her hymen torn, this story made me consider how grossly unfair it is to condemn a person this way. Amina did not consent to losing her virginity, yet in the eyes of many a woman in Amina’s circumstance is simply seen as no longer a virgin and therefore no longer marriage material. This creates a slippery slope for Amina: should she compromise her own integrity for people who essentially already have questionable values? The virginity issue is the only issue ever addressed with concerns to marriage, which (perhaps naively) surprised me. I found it deeply upsetting, though likely realistic, that so much emphasis was placed on Amina’s ‘loss of virginity’ rather than her well-being. Rape has long term, lasting effects on survivors and, while perhaps not everyone has the potential to be a partner to someone who has experienced this kind of trauma, that is not addressed by concerned parties. One potential husband says, “I have no way of knowing how many other men you’ve been with”, as if Amina’s rape was a possible gateway to promiscuous behaviour.

Reading Amina’s mother’s reaction was very difficult for me. You can hope that your family will support you through hardships, especially those inflicted on you by someone else, but you just never know how they will respond and in some cases the survivor ends up having to be a support system for those who should be doing the comforting! Interestingly, one of Amina’s strongest supporters is her non-Muslim best friend. I found this character, Kayla, to be a great inclusion in the story, and especially liked the way Hend depicted Amina’s da’wah towards her friend.

I am so glad that Hend wrote this book and hope if offers some solace and insight to its readers.

Reviewed by Brooke Benoit for the 54th issue of SISTERS Magazine

[Misty Nordyke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amina is an Arab American woman attending one of the best universities in the US.
During her junior year she experiences one of the betrayals of someone she thought was a friend and brother.
Amina is now considered unmarriageable in the eyes of her parents and the Arab community.


Amina finds it hard to date and get close to someone because of a secret she is carrying, then she meets Sherif and they start to have a relationship and they get engaged. Amina feels she must tell Sherif her secret, she does not want to hold anything back. But he can not accept her truth and he abandons her. Will Amina ever find a man who can live with her secret and love her? Will Amina settle for a relationship without love??



I just love reading this book. I love to read about other cultures and their beliefs.
How most religions are looked upon and How cultures look upon modesty and purity.



Hend Hegazi pulls you into the book and writes where you can comprehend what is happening and follow along with the Muslim religion. She also has a glossary of Arabic terms in the back of the book.



** I won this book through Goodreads First Reads Giveaway **

[Fatima · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a such a shortage of books which tell Muslim stories that when one I get one I devour every single word. Normal Calm starts off slowly and you slowly settle in getting to know the characters when bam! the wind is knocked out of you. It is fast paced and the characters are well developed and likeable. It touches on issues like rape, marriage expectations and friendships in a very believable tone. At times the main character's uncertainty about ongoing issues in her life did annoy me but I think she redeemed herself in the end. Our book club loved this pick, we are on a mission to support as many Muslim writers as we can. I would love more books from this author she has a lovely entertaining and gripping writing style.

[Aisha Mirza · Rating 4 out of 5]

A subject that is not tackled in many cultures and many women suffer in silence as a result. Normal Calm is a story of a young woman whose life is turned upside after she is raped. The author Hend Hegazi delicately takes us through the motions of not only the emotional turmoil but the impact this event can have on a whole family. What makes this story beautiful is the main character Amina and her persistence and determination to heal, to grow to survive despite the trauma and move forward in her life. Even against cultural barriers and reactions of others she does not give up. A real inspiration that there is hope and there is something better.

[Nabeela Noorani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hend and I exchanged our books to one another, writer to writer, and I couldn't have been more thrilled. It was beautifully crafted and spectacularly written. The writer takes you right into the story and introduces you to the characters as if you are meeting them in person. You can feel the emotions at play all over the pages. I cried with Amina, I laughed with her and felt everything. Normal Calm is a captivating read and I would recommend it to one and all.

[Dalia Almorsy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not a good book at all, boring and zero creativity