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The Tower
Reem is a Syrian refugee who has arrived in London, trying to discover the whereabouts of her 10-year old brother, Adar. Obsessed with history and consumed by her fragmented memories of home, Reem is also hiding secrets she hopes will never be revealed.
After being placed in a tower block, she befriends Leah; a single mother who has been forced to leave her expensive South Kensington townhouse. Their unlikely friendship supports them as they attempt to find their place in a relentless, heaving city, and come to terms with the homes they left behind.
Both bold and timely, The Tower shows how Reem and Leah’s lives change and intersect in the wake of individual and communal tragedy, as well as in their struggle to adapt to a rapidly shifting society.
Author Bio
Shereen Malherbe is a British, Palestinian writer whose debut novel, Jasmine Falling, features in the top 20 Best Books by Muslim women. After studying her B.A. degree in English Literature with Creative Writing, Shereen now combines her two interests of writing and travel to create novels that straddle both the East and the West.
Shereen is also a writer and researcher on behalf of Muslimah Media Watch on the representation of Muslim women in the media and pop culture. She has spoken bout trending topics including islamophobia on live TV, resulting in her classification in the Media Diversified Experts Directory.
After being placed in a tower block, she befriends Leah; a single mother who has been forced to leave her expensive South Kensington townhouse. Their unlikely friendship supports them as they attempt to find their place in a relentless, heaving city, and come to terms with the homes they left behind.
Both bold and timely, The Tower shows how Reem and Leah’s lives change and intersect in the wake of individual and communal tragedy, as well as in their struggle to adapt to a rapidly shifting society.
Author Bio
Shereen Malherbe is a British, Palestinian writer whose debut novel, Jasmine Falling, features in the top 20 Best Books by Muslim women. After studying her B.A. degree in English Literature with Creative Writing, Shereen now combines her two interests of writing and travel to create novels that straddle both the East and the West.
Shereen is also a writer and researcher on behalf of Muslimah Media Watch on the representation of Muslim women in the media and pop culture. She has spoken bout trending topics including islamophobia on live TV, resulting in her classification in the Media Diversified Experts Directory.
262 pages, Paperback
Published April 17, 2019
60 people want to read
About the author
Shereen Malherbe
8 books116 followersShereen Malherbe is a British Palestinian author.
Her two latest books, The Land Beneath the Light and her children's book, The Girl Who Stitched the Stars have been nominated for the Palestine Book Awards.
Shereen’s debut novel, Jasmine Falling, has been voted among the Best Books by Muslim Women (Goodreads).
Her second novel, The Tower is now an academic set text in a US university.
Her short story, The Cypress Tree, was recently published in World Literature Today’s landmark edition, ‘Palestine Voices’.
Her children's range now features in Open University's literacy scheme.
Her most recent novel, Yassini Girls, based on her experiences on a BBC documentary film, is out now.
Her two latest books, The Land Beneath the Light and her children's book, The Girl Who Stitched the Stars have been nominated for the Palestine Book Awards.
Shereen’s debut novel, Jasmine Falling, has been voted among the Best Books by Muslim Women (Goodreads).
Her second novel, The Tower is now an academic set text in a US university.
Her short story, The Cypress Tree, was recently published in World Literature Today’s landmark edition, ‘Palestine Voices’.
Her children's range now features in Open University's literacy scheme.
Her most recent novel, Yassini Girls, based on her experiences on a BBC documentary film, is out now.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
July 1, 2019
The Tower tells the story of two women - Syrian refugee Reem and single mum Leah - who both move into the tower around the same time, for different reasons. They strike up an unlikely friendship through Leah's young son Elijah who is a chatty and inquisitive boy. Reem has come to Britain on a boat and is looking for her 10 year old brother who went missing. Leah has suffered a bereavement and has had to move out of her home in privileged South Kensington.
First I'd like to say that there is definitely room for more literature exploring the themes covered, to give a voice to 'your average Muslim' and to normalise all humans regardless of faith, race and creed, in such a turbulent political environment as the one we have today. The Tower discusses what 'home' is to different people, and that the perception many have in these Brexit days - that every single immigrant is just desperate to live in Britain - is simply not true. Many refugees would love to stay in their home country, they just simply cannot because it's completely ruined by war.
Despite the promising setting, this novel fails to deliver for me. There is tragedy overkill. Leah has two very traumatic bereavements to deal with as well as interfering parents and social worker. Reem has the war, the boat journey, the missing brother, the violent husband and a threatening social worker; their new friend Mo has his own losses. On top of this, the fire and terror attack on a mosque, are both having an impact on these same individuals. There is also all the coincidences. Fiction often have coincidences and you can handle a few. But that Reem runs into childhood sweetheart, her husband tracks her down, Leah's parents's friend is a surgeon involved in human trafficking and recognises Reem, that Leah's father is directly involved in the cladding disaster. It's all a bit much!
I would have liked the story to focus more on Reem and Leah's friendship. We were told of their friendship in snippets but it wasn't explored, numerous plot holes which could have been avoided had the author not decided to cover so much ground. When descriptions were very much needed, it was skipped, when it was irrelevant there was too much detail (cooking for the big iftar).
I also think it highly unlikely that the researchers at the British Museum are so incompetent they would have exhibited items merely using guesswork, but when two Syrians come they know what it is at once?! (And when overheard, they want to bring Reem in to help too)
I really wanted to like it but unfortunately it's a 1🌟 for me.
First I'd like to say that there is definitely room for more literature exploring the themes covered, to give a voice to 'your average Muslim' and to normalise all humans regardless of faith, race and creed, in such a turbulent political environment as the one we have today. The Tower discusses what 'home' is to different people, and that the perception many have in these Brexit days - that every single immigrant is just desperate to live in Britain - is simply not true. Many refugees would love to stay in their home country, they just simply cannot because it's completely ruined by war.
Despite the promising setting, this novel fails to deliver for me. There is tragedy overkill. Leah has two very traumatic bereavements to deal with as well as interfering parents and social worker. Reem has the war, the boat journey, the missing brother, the violent husband and a threatening social worker; their new friend Mo has his own losses. On top of this, the fire and terror attack on a mosque, are both having an impact on these same individuals. There is also all the coincidences. Fiction often have coincidences and you can handle a few. But that Reem runs into childhood sweetheart, her husband tracks her down, Leah's parents's friend is a surgeon involved in human trafficking and recognises Reem, that Leah's father is directly involved in the cladding disaster. It's all a bit much!
I would have liked the story to focus more on Reem and Leah's friendship. We were told of their friendship in snippets but it wasn't explored, numerous plot holes which could have been avoided had the author not decided to cover so much ground. When descriptions were very much needed, it was skipped, when it was irrelevant there was too much detail (cooking for the big iftar).
I also think it highly unlikely that the researchers at the British Museum are so incompetent they would have exhibited items merely using guesswork, but when two Syrians come they know what it is at once?! (And when overheard, they want to bring Reem in to help too)
I really wanted to like it but unfortunately it's a 1🌟 for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 30, 2019
I don’t think I have agonised over a book review quite as I have over this one. The Tower was our book club nomination for June and one that as group we had felt strongly about supporting as a way to commemorate and keep spotlighted the tragedy of Grenfell, when (officially) 72 live were lost in a fire that was entirely avoidable, 2 years ago.
The story is a fictional account of the lives of two very different women, Reem and Leah whose lives are uprooted and thrown into chaos in completely opposite ways and yet cause them to intersect in the Tower they find themselves re-housed in, where they find and nurture new friendships and community.
The novel started off strong with the promise of representing and reasserting into the readers’ consciousness the magnitude of what happens when some lives are deemed less valuable by powerful elites. Unfortunately, this potential was quickly lost as the scope of the novel seemed to become overly ambitious, and instead of fully developing and layering one or two issues, it seemed to try to become a catch all, which failed to fully deliver on any of the issues. We had Syria’s civil war, bereavement, loss, displacement, illegal organ harvesting, PTSD, domestic violence, Islamophobia, the perilous journey and plight of refugees, Palestine and more. It ended up feeling like a pile on.
It felt like there were a number of great and important stories that could have been made out of this rather than just the one, which would have allowed for deeper exploration of the issues covered thereby satisfying the reader and doing justice to the topics raised. The central story of a tragedy unfolding at the tower was well written. I was moved by the grief of a mother for her child and had the story stayed with them I think it could have been so much more stronger on a number of counts.
The story is a fictional account of the lives of two very different women, Reem and Leah whose lives are uprooted and thrown into chaos in completely opposite ways and yet cause them to intersect in the Tower they find themselves re-housed in, where they find and nurture new friendships and community.
The novel started off strong with the promise of representing and reasserting into the readers’ consciousness the magnitude of what happens when some lives are deemed less valuable by powerful elites. Unfortunately, this potential was quickly lost as the scope of the novel seemed to become overly ambitious, and instead of fully developing and layering one or two issues, it seemed to try to become a catch all, which failed to fully deliver on any of the issues. We had Syria’s civil war, bereavement, loss, displacement, illegal organ harvesting, PTSD, domestic violence, Islamophobia, the perilous journey and plight of refugees, Palestine and more. It ended up feeling like a pile on.
It felt like there were a number of great and important stories that could have been made out of this rather than just the one, which would have allowed for deeper exploration of the issues covered thereby satisfying the reader and doing justice to the topics raised. The central story of a tragedy unfolding at the tower was well written. I was moved by the grief of a mother for her child and had the story stayed with them I think it could have been so much more stronger on a number of counts.
March 25, 2019
The Tower Will Captivate Your Heart!
The Tower by Shereen Malherbe is a superbly written, movie-like novel about the tragic lives of two brave women. The Tower was heart-pounding, heart-warming, and heart-wrenching.
You really connect to all of the characters and feel a part of their family.
I loved The Tower’s vivid imagery, especially the mouth-watering descriptions of Middle Eastern food.
The Tower gives a human face to the war in Syria, as well as to Muslims. It is a much needed book in today’s Islamophobic era. The ending was absolutely the best ending I could ask for. If you are looking for a book to stimulate your five senses and inspire your heart and soul, The Tower is for you.
The Tower by Shereen Malherbe is a superbly written, movie-like novel about the tragic lives of two brave women. The Tower was heart-pounding, heart-warming, and heart-wrenching.
You really connect to all of the characters and feel a part of their family.
I loved The Tower’s vivid imagery, especially the mouth-watering descriptions of Middle Eastern food.
The Tower gives a human face to the war in Syria, as well as to Muslims. It is a much needed book in today’s Islamophobic era. The ending was absolutely the best ending I could ask for. If you are looking for a book to stimulate your five senses and inspire your heart and soul, The Tower is for you.
April 10, 2019
The Tower is Shereen Malherbe's newest contemporary novel. It takes place in the UK and is loosely based on the Grenfell Tower fire, in which 72 people died when the social housing complex was destroyed. This quiet and contemplative novel is told from the alternating points of view of two women who move into the building from very different lives.
Leah is English. Her husband died last year, and she has been living with her parents in their posh Kensington house while still in the fog of her grief. She can't get along with them any longer, however, and she moves herself and her son, Elijah, to the tower, which is the only place they can afford.
Reem, who is pregnant, is a recently arrived Syrian refugee who has been placed in the tower. She suffered some kind of trauma during her journey and has lost most of her memory about how she arrived in the UK. She remembers being on a boat but only has a vague memory of the shoreline. Her next clear memory is of waking up in the hospital. She was traveling with her brother, but they were separated, and her priority is to find him. Over the course of the novel, the mystery of what happened to her and her brother is unraveled.
Leah and Reem become friends at first through Elijah, who is friendly with Reem, and then when Leah helps Reem register her brother as a missing person. As the two women get jobs and try to settle into their new lives, their friendship grows.
Even more than being a story about their friendship, this is the story of the building. From the opening scene, we understand that this isn't a typical building. As Leah stands on the curb watching the taxi disappear, two men arrive to carry her sofa upstairs. She initially thinks they're stealing it, and then, when she realizes the truth, apologizes profusely. But the residents of the tower have built a real community: helping each other with the furniture is the least of it. They also grow a garden, hold weekly meetings to discuss important issues, and host a community iftar every Ramadan. They are an odd assortment of people thrown into a building together, but they have good intentions and have built relationships around their commonalities, and that aspect of the story was really beautiful.
The Tower addresses themes of poverty, racism, immigration, Islamophobia, and xenophobia. The short chapters told from alternating points of view make it highly readable; I devoured it in a single day. I also loved Reem's character. She practices both the spirit and the letter of Islam on the page, which is undeniably refreshing. Despite a few plot holes and bits of background that I wished were explained, this original and moving novel is well worth a read.
Leah is English. Her husband died last year, and she has been living with her parents in their posh Kensington house while still in the fog of her grief. She can't get along with them any longer, however, and she moves herself and her son, Elijah, to the tower, which is the only place they can afford.
Reem, who is pregnant, is a recently arrived Syrian refugee who has been placed in the tower. She suffered some kind of trauma during her journey and has lost most of her memory about how she arrived in the UK. She remembers being on a boat but only has a vague memory of the shoreline. Her next clear memory is of waking up in the hospital. She was traveling with her brother, but they were separated, and her priority is to find him. Over the course of the novel, the mystery of what happened to her and her brother is unraveled.
Leah and Reem become friends at first through Elijah, who is friendly with Reem, and then when Leah helps Reem register her brother as a missing person. As the two women get jobs and try to settle into their new lives, their friendship grows.
Even more than being a story about their friendship, this is the story of the building. From the opening scene, we understand that this isn't a typical building. As Leah stands on the curb watching the taxi disappear, two men arrive to carry her sofa upstairs. She initially thinks they're stealing it, and then, when she realizes the truth, apologizes profusely. But the residents of the tower have built a real community: helping each other with the furniture is the least of it. They also grow a garden, hold weekly meetings to discuss important issues, and host a community iftar every Ramadan. They are an odd assortment of people thrown into a building together, but they have good intentions and have built relationships around their commonalities, and that aspect of the story was really beautiful.
The Tower addresses themes of poverty, racism, immigration, Islamophobia, and xenophobia. The short chapters told from alternating points of view make it highly readable; I devoured it in a single day. I also loved Reem's character. She practices both the spirit and the letter of Islam on the page, which is undeniably refreshing. Despite a few plot holes and bits of background that I wished were explained, this original and moving novel is well worth a read.
April 14, 2019
A full review can be found on my blog, Headscarves and Hardbacks!
Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an advance reading copy in exchange for an honest review!
This is a heart-warming novel that answers the complex question of what it means to call a place home. Alternating between the viewpoints of Reem and Leah, two women who strike an unlikely friendship, the novel explores themes of poverty, racism, Islamophobia, immigration and the social class divide.
The tower is not so much a place in this story but a person. It is a living, breathing entity, much like the diverse cast of characters who reside within it. It is a community of residents who come from different socio-economic, religious and ethnic backgrounds and are able to create a space where everyone is welcome and accepted regardless of their differences. And it stresses the importance of unity and tolerance, especially in the wake of tragedy.
The novel alludes to many real-life events including the Grenfell Tower fire, the Finsbury Park mosque attack and the countless journeys undertaken by refugees fleeing the violence in their homeland in search of a better life. Throughout the novel, Reem is searching. Not just for a better life but for familiar faces in an unfamiliar world. For her brother, Adar. For the truth within her fragmented memories. For relics of her homeland and history. And although she finds friendship in Leah and Elijah, in Mo and Nidal and Laila, in Kesandu and Archie, there is this underlying feeling of loneliness that haunts her chapters and truly breaks your heart.
This is a quiet novel but it has loud characters who, in the wake of individual and communal tragedy, focus on their similarities to support and uplift each other through loss and grief. It initiates conversations about refugees and the class divide, and finds its strength in all of its characters but especially in the friendship that blossoms between Reem and Leah.
At times, the story does feel slightly crowded with many significant events that are over far too quickly, and it’s quite difficult to tell how much time actually passes over the course of the novel. However, you could also say that this book revolves around the characters rather than the events because, in a similar way, home isn’t really made up of places. It’s made up of people.
Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an advance reading copy in exchange for an honest review!
This is a heart-warming novel that answers the complex question of what it means to call a place home. Alternating between the viewpoints of Reem and Leah, two women who strike an unlikely friendship, the novel explores themes of poverty, racism, Islamophobia, immigration and the social class divide.
The tower is not so much a place in this story but a person. It is a living, breathing entity, much like the diverse cast of characters who reside within it. It is a community of residents who come from different socio-economic, religious and ethnic backgrounds and are able to create a space where everyone is welcome and accepted regardless of their differences. And it stresses the importance of unity and tolerance, especially in the wake of tragedy.
The novel alludes to many real-life events including the Grenfell Tower fire, the Finsbury Park mosque attack and the countless journeys undertaken by refugees fleeing the violence in their homeland in search of a better life. Throughout the novel, Reem is searching. Not just for a better life but for familiar faces in an unfamiliar world. For her brother, Adar. For the truth within her fragmented memories. For relics of her homeland and history. And although she finds friendship in Leah and Elijah, in Mo and Nidal and Laila, in Kesandu and Archie, there is this underlying feeling of loneliness that haunts her chapters and truly breaks your heart.
This is a quiet novel but it has loud characters who, in the wake of individual and communal tragedy, focus on their similarities to support and uplift each other through loss and grief. It initiates conversations about refugees and the class divide, and finds its strength in all of its characters but especially in the friendship that blossoms between Reem and Leah.
At times, the story does feel slightly crowded with many significant events that are over far too quickly, and it’s quite difficult to tell how much time actually passes over the course of the novel. However, you could also say that this book revolves around the characters rather than the events because, in a similar way, home isn’t really made up of places. It’s made up of people.
April 15, 2019
Shereen Malherbe, in her novel The Tower, is remarkably able to bring a diverse world to interact within the limited space of a tower in northern London as well as the wide scope of the globe. She has managed to produce from this world of beauty and ugliness; courage and cowardice; loyalty and betray; innocence and culpability; tolerance and bigotry, a tale of affliction, excitement, happiness, despair, aggression, hate and love, all blended harmonically to lead the reader through an amazing experience, and finally to arrive at a safety coast, lit with love and faith.
Being an expatriate is something that many people experience when they are forced to displace or run away with their precious lives, or even seek a more promising future in a strange land. This feeling of physical and cultural remoteness, is difficult to explain to people who don’t experience it. However, the writer draws a new map of expatriation: one in which you can feel extraneous inside your own country, within your city or even inside yourself. That is, when you suddenly feel detached from your own people and attached to a new way of life, which you might previously have thought of as inferior.
The author brings many examples of people who have fallen into despair feeling all the burden of being away from home or being betrayed by their loved ones! Nevertheless, they all can finally overcome the hardships and marvelously remove the obstacles that stand in their way. The events of the novel imply that the only way to do this is by removing the layers that cover your vision and freeing your soul from the prior judgments and prejudices. Then, to look around to see those figures around you – humans who you had for some reason despised- become angels of mercy who can lift you on their heavenly wings into safety and self satisfaction.
It is a novel that deserves all the time you put in reading, because it teaches you, without dictating, a lesson of tolerance, where your adversary could become your rescuer, while your own parent or close friend can cause you turmoil. Sailing through the pages creates this sense of loosening all the prejudices that might tie you up in a preprogrammed perception of peoples and places. It takes you in a journey not only through London’s streets, or Damascus’s war-wrecked areas, but through the impenetrable world of prejudice, crime and inhumanity, where you meet people who cover themselves with a layer of aloofness and others who strive to help whomever in need. It also journeys you deep inside local Muslim immigrant communities revealing the goodness that the media propaganda has managed to stain, driving some, from both sides, to extremism.
The writer describes the events in a very moving way without alienating any person or party. She describes the atrocities in Syria and the fire in London, concentrating on the human aspect, without pointing fingers or forcing any reader to take one side or the other. She humanizes these events, emphasizing that the people involved are not only numbers, but real humans who had their own aspirations and dreams.
She manages to craft a story from different scattered real events in a genius way in order to highlight many ideas and to prove that aggressors exist in all nations and everywhere, regardless of homeland or religion. The story of the good and the evil is timeless, borderless and has been going on through generations.
Being an expatriate is something that many people experience when they are forced to displace or run away with their precious lives, or even seek a more promising future in a strange land. This feeling of physical and cultural remoteness, is difficult to explain to people who don’t experience it. However, the writer draws a new map of expatriation: one in which you can feel extraneous inside your own country, within your city or even inside yourself. That is, when you suddenly feel detached from your own people and attached to a new way of life, which you might previously have thought of as inferior.
The author brings many examples of people who have fallen into despair feeling all the burden of being away from home or being betrayed by their loved ones! Nevertheless, they all can finally overcome the hardships and marvelously remove the obstacles that stand in their way. The events of the novel imply that the only way to do this is by removing the layers that cover your vision and freeing your soul from the prior judgments and prejudices. Then, to look around to see those figures around you – humans who you had for some reason despised- become angels of mercy who can lift you on their heavenly wings into safety and self satisfaction.
It is a novel that deserves all the time you put in reading, because it teaches you, without dictating, a lesson of tolerance, where your adversary could become your rescuer, while your own parent or close friend can cause you turmoil. Sailing through the pages creates this sense of loosening all the prejudices that might tie you up in a preprogrammed perception of peoples and places. It takes you in a journey not only through London’s streets, or Damascus’s war-wrecked areas, but through the impenetrable world of prejudice, crime and inhumanity, where you meet people who cover themselves with a layer of aloofness and others who strive to help whomever in need. It also journeys you deep inside local Muslim immigrant communities revealing the goodness that the media propaganda has managed to stain, driving some, from both sides, to extremism.
The writer describes the events in a very moving way without alienating any person or party. She describes the atrocities in Syria and the fire in London, concentrating on the human aspect, without pointing fingers or forcing any reader to take one side or the other. She humanizes these events, emphasizing that the people involved are not only numbers, but real humans who had their own aspirations and dreams.
She manages to craft a story from different scattered real events in a genius way in order to highlight many ideas and to prove that aggressors exist in all nations and everywhere, regardless of homeland or religion. The story of the good and the evil is timeless, borderless and has been going on through generations.
June 7, 2023
I was looking forward to reading this due to other positive online reviews, but the book turned out to be unsatisfying and badly constructed. I'll preface this with the SPOILER ALERT callout as I will be talking about specifics from within the text, but there's little for me to spoil as I wouldn't recommend you buy/read this.
This was released around the anniversary of Grenfell and I did worry at the time of buying it that it was trying to cash in on that event. Having read it, the story is a little bit of that and a little bit of everything else as it not only covers a fire in a tower block, but war in the Middle East, asylum seekers, human trafficking, Islamophobia and mosque attacks (among other things). The issue is that it doesn't do any of these subjects justice and flits from crisis to crisis, never really addressing any subject satisfactorily.
Beyond that, the character development is non-existent - largely down to the poor writing - and you feel no sense of attachment or concern for them. When people started dying, I found myself trying to remember who they were and even when main characters were killed off I struggled to care. It's difficult to care about characters when they come across as hollow and two-dimensional. Having read the book, I discussed it with my wife (who read it before me) and told her that it wasn't so much a story as a description of a series of (implausible) events that happen to the same set of people. There's little continuity and characters seem to magically flit across London - being here and then suddenly there - with little explanation.
At one point, the main character (Reem, from Syria) is wandering through the Natural History Museum and comes across a group of Arabic-speaking teachers with their students. Intrigued to hear people who speak her native tongue, she goes over to talk to one, telling her she's from Syria and asking the teacher where she's from. The teacher tells her she's from Hackney. There's no further conversation beyond that and the next line ("Reem stood there as she watched the teacher huddling the children through the crowds of people") is just one example of the lack of continuity in events, and lack of clarity in what has motivated an action. A short while later Reem is magically in front of a stuffed marlin. The whole book is like this.
Likewise, the events and resolutions are often outlandish and unrealistic. Museum staff lack specialist knowledge of the things they are curating and Reem's knowledge of the mistakes they have made lands her a job. Evil traffickers are caught and brought to justice, as are the middle-class white men who profit from them. The further on you read, the more you feel like you're reading badly-developed prose about wish-fulfilment. I struggled to finish it, but made myself because I wanted to form an opinion on the whole piece.
So here it is in a nutshell. The book tries to do too much and what it does do, it does badly. This reads more like a first, unedited draft than a final version, ready for release. With some heavy editing and re-work it might be worth publishing, but in its current state it's not. I wouldn't pay for it and don't suggest you do either.
This was released around the anniversary of Grenfell and I did worry at the time of buying it that it was trying to cash in on that event. Having read it, the story is a little bit of that and a little bit of everything else as it not only covers a fire in a tower block, but war in the Middle East, asylum seekers, human trafficking, Islamophobia and mosque attacks (among other things). The issue is that it doesn't do any of these subjects justice and flits from crisis to crisis, never really addressing any subject satisfactorily.
Beyond that, the character development is non-existent - largely down to the poor writing - and you feel no sense of attachment or concern for them. When people started dying, I found myself trying to remember who they were and even when main characters were killed off I struggled to care. It's difficult to care about characters when they come across as hollow and two-dimensional. Having read the book, I discussed it with my wife (who read it before me) and told her that it wasn't so much a story as a description of a series of (implausible) events that happen to the same set of people. There's little continuity and characters seem to magically flit across London - being here and then suddenly there - with little explanation.
At one point, the main character (Reem, from Syria) is wandering through the Natural History Museum and comes across a group of Arabic-speaking teachers with their students. Intrigued to hear people who speak her native tongue, she goes over to talk to one, telling her she's from Syria and asking the teacher where she's from. The teacher tells her she's from Hackney. There's no further conversation beyond that and the next line ("Reem stood there as she watched the teacher huddling the children through the crowds of people") is just one example of the lack of continuity in events, and lack of clarity in what has motivated an action. A short while later Reem is magically in front of a stuffed marlin. The whole book is like this.
Likewise, the events and resolutions are often outlandish and unrealistic. Museum staff lack specialist knowledge of the things they are curating and Reem's knowledge of the mistakes they have made lands her a job. Evil traffickers are caught and brought to justice, as are the middle-class white men who profit from them. The further on you read, the more you feel like you're reading badly-developed prose about wish-fulfilment. I struggled to finish it, but made myself because I wanted to form an opinion on the whole piece.
So here it is in a nutshell. The book tries to do too much and what it does do, it does badly. This reads more like a first, unedited draft than a final version, ready for release. With some heavy editing and re-work it might be worth publishing, but in its current state it's not. I wouldn't pay for it and don't suggest you do either.
April 12, 2019
The Tower is a fast-paced book full of unexpected events. From the beginning, Malherbe throws the reader right in the middle of each characters’ tumultuous lives. Reem is fleeing the violence plaguing her Syrian homeland and Leah is fleeing the shackles of her self-centered, overbearing parents. By the time they become neighbors, both women are penniless and desperate to get back on their feet. Malherbe slowly reveals details of the characters’ backstories over the course of the novel. It’s up to the reader to keep track of the details and try to piece them together. We’re kept guessing until the very end, and we learn a few things along the way.
Leah’s story illustrates the importance of remaining humble. Her parents are wealthy, but after they cut her off she doesn’t hesitate to take a job cleaning her former neighbor’s house in order to support her son. Rather than turn her nose up at her new neighbors in the Muslim ethnic enclave she now calls home, Leah attends community events and gets to know the people around her. As Leah continues to suffer great loss, she calls on Reem and her other new friends for support.
Reem shows similar strength and humility. Her story humanizes asylum-seekers reminds readers that many refugees have suffered unspeakable horrors not only in their home countries, but also in their new contexts. For Reem, the people who claim to be helping her wind up doing the most harm. Even after she officially resettles in England, people and objects from Reem’s past continue to haunt her. As she begins to reconstruct her fragmented memory, she unravels a conspiracy that shakes her to her core. Fortunately, she has Leah to rely on, as well as her unwavering belief in Allah.
In essence, The Tower is the story of two incredibly strong women. Their singular focus on rebuilding their lives gives them the strength and motivation to keep moving forward.
Full review here: http://www.muslimahmediawatch.org/201...
Leah’s story illustrates the importance of remaining humble. Her parents are wealthy, but after they cut her off she doesn’t hesitate to take a job cleaning her former neighbor’s house in order to support her son. Rather than turn her nose up at her new neighbors in the Muslim ethnic enclave she now calls home, Leah attends community events and gets to know the people around her. As Leah continues to suffer great loss, she calls on Reem and her other new friends for support.
Reem shows similar strength and humility. Her story humanizes asylum-seekers reminds readers that many refugees have suffered unspeakable horrors not only in their home countries, but also in their new contexts. For Reem, the people who claim to be helping her wind up doing the most harm. Even after she officially resettles in England, people and objects from Reem’s past continue to haunt her. As she begins to reconstruct her fragmented memory, she unravels a conspiracy that shakes her to her core. Fortunately, she has Leah to rely on, as well as her unwavering belief in Allah.
In essence, The Tower is the story of two incredibly strong women. Their singular focus on rebuilding their lives gives them the strength and motivation to keep moving forward.
Full review here: http://www.muslimahmediawatch.org/201...
April 10, 2019
The Tower published by Beacon Books is the second contemporary women’s fiction novel written by Shereen Malherbe; a British Palestinian writer based in both the UK and the United Arab Emirates. Shereen Malherbe is also a writer for Muslimah Media Watch, a forum for critiquing the images of Muslim women in the media and pop culture.
In The Tower, Malherbe explores fictionalized real events and realities such as the Grenfell tower incident, the remnants of the war in the Middle East and women's mental health like she did in her first novel Jasmine Falling .
Reem finds herself triggered by the apparition of her detractor out of nowhere. Secretly battling a possible gestation, domestic and emotional abuse, she can't help but chase her brother's ghost in London.
Reem also faces both hardship and ease while trying to communicate in English, while looking and finding a job and while carrying herself around because while some strangers might be kind to you, some won't. And a Muslim woman wearing hijab is always targeted for some nonsense.
Thus, meeting Leah and the welcoming ummah in Reem's new UK apartment building— the tower—and neighborhood brings her comfort until tragedies/blessings in disguise rip the little struggling pieces of her life she had left.
In the narrative of Leah, Malherbe lightly touches on the positive privilege this character brings to society and the self-discovery journey Leah treads. Leah finally finds her call and Reem gets a happy ending with a decent chap.
We can definitely say that Malherbe's great narrative skills of the setting bring us to the scene, making The Tower a moving tale. The book shows that when stricken with deep love rejection, tremendous loss of family members, etc. human nature shows its resiliency by making an effort to survive the darkness.
In The Tower, Malherbe explores fictionalized real events and realities such as the Grenfell tower incident, the remnants of the war in the Middle East and women's mental health like she did in her first novel Jasmine Falling .
Reem finds herself triggered by the apparition of her detractor out of nowhere. Secretly battling a possible gestation, domestic and emotional abuse, she can't help but chase her brother's ghost in London.
Reem also faces both hardship and ease while trying to communicate in English, while looking and finding a job and while carrying herself around because while some strangers might be kind to you, some won't. And a Muslim woman wearing hijab is always targeted for some nonsense.
Thus, meeting Leah and the welcoming ummah in Reem's new UK apartment building— the tower—and neighborhood brings her comfort until tragedies/blessings in disguise rip the little struggling pieces of her life she had left.
In the narrative of Leah, Malherbe lightly touches on the positive privilege this character brings to society and the self-discovery journey Leah treads. Leah finally finds her call and Reem gets a happy ending with a decent chap.
We can definitely say that Malherbe's great narrative skills of the setting bring us to the scene, making The Tower a moving tale. The book shows that when stricken with deep love rejection, tremendous loss of family members, etc. human nature shows its resiliency by making an effort to survive the darkness.
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October 7, 2022Hi everyone, thank you to all the readers who share their time to read this book. It belongs to you all from this point forward.
June 24, 2019
I started reading ‘The Tower’ exactly a week before the sad anniversary of the Grenfell tower tragedy. I finished it on the eve of it’s anniversary.
‘The Tower’ destroyed me. The story is fraught with emotions and it’s pages are full of suspenseful situations at every turn. The author has written the description of the event with so much emotion and details that I felt like I was standing with the two main characters from beginning to end; their pain was my pain. After I finished reading, I had to take a few days’ break before writing my review because I was still thinking about Reem and Leah.
The Tower is a fast-paced book full of unexpected events. Right from the very beginning the reader is thrown into the middle of each characters’ turmoil lives. Alternating between the viewpoints of Reem and Leah, two women who strike an unlikely friendship, the novel explores themes of poverty, racism, Islamophobia, immigration and the social class divide.
Reem is fleeing the violence plaguing her Syrian homeland and Leah is fleeing the shackles of her self-centered, overbearing parents. By the time they become neighbors, both women are penniless and desperate to get back on their feet. Malherbe slowly reveals details of the characters’ backstories over the course of the novel. It’s up to the reader to keep track of the details and try to piece them together.
Leah is a single mother who has been forced to leave her expensive South Kensington townhouse. Their unlikely friendship supports them as they attempt to find their place in a relentless, heaving city, and come to terms with the homes they left behind.
Both bold and timely, ‘The Tower’ shows how Reem and Leah’s lives change and intersect in the wake of individual and communal tragedy, as well as in their struggle to adapt to a rapidly shifting society.
Although Reem finds friendship in Leah and Elijah, and so many others in her community there is a piercing loneliness that haunts her chapters and truly breaks your heart.
Throughout the novel, Reem is always searching for familiar faces in an unfamiliar world. For her 10 year old brother, Adar. For the truth within her fragmented and blurred memories. For relics of her homeland and history.
The Tower is a much needed book which initiates conversations about refugees and the class divide, and finds its strength in all of its characters but especially in the friendship that blossoms between Reem and Leah.
‘The Tower’ by Shereen Malherbe is an important addition to the literary work needed for better understanding of and insight into a troubled world that needs to be reminded of its values of compassion and empathy but above all else its humanity.
‘The Tower’ destroyed me. The story is fraught with emotions and it’s pages are full of suspenseful situations at every turn. The author has written the description of the event with so much emotion and details that I felt like I was standing with the two main characters from beginning to end; their pain was my pain. After I finished reading, I had to take a few days’ break before writing my review because I was still thinking about Reem and Leah.
The Tower is a fast-paced book full of unexpected events. Right from the very beginning the reader is thrown into the middle of each characters’ turmoil lives. Alternating between the viewpoints of Reem and Leah, two women who strike an unlikely friendship, the novel explores themes of poverty, racism, Islamophobia, immigration and the social class divide.
Reem is fleeing the violence plaguing her Syrian homeland and Leah is fleeing the shackles of her self-centered, overbearing parents. By the time they become neighbors, both women are penniless and desperate to get back on their feet. Malherbe slowly reveals details of the characters’ backstories over the course of the novel. It’s up to the reader to keep track of the details and try to piece them together.
Leah is a single mother who has been forced to leave her expensive South Kensington townhouse. Their unlikely friendship supports them as they attempt to find their place in a relentless, heaving city, and come to terms with the homes they left behind.
Both bold and timely, ‘The Tower’ shows how Reem and Leah’s lives change and intersect in the wake of individual and communal tragedy, as well as in their struggle to adapt to a rapidly shifting society.
Although Reem finds friendship in Leah and Elijah, and so many others in her community there is a piercing loneliness that haunts her chapters and truly breaks your heart.
Throughout the novel, Reem is always searching for familiar faces in an unfamiliar world. For her 10 year old brother, Adar. For the truth within her fragmented and blurred memories. For relics of her homeland and history.
The Tower is a much needed book which initiates conversations about refugees and the class divide, and finds its strength in all of its characters but especially in the friendship that blossoms between Reem and Leah.
‘The Tower’ by Shereen Malherbe is an important addition to the literary work needed for better understanding of and insight into a troubled world that needs to be reminded of its values of compassion and empathy but above all else its humanity.
April 17, 2020
The Tower is a beautifully written saga of two women's journey to find themselves. The story begins deceptively mild but becomes progressively gut-wrenching as it unfolds. It explores the harsh realities of life, the horrors of war and the struggle to survive in a world in which you are a stranger. Ms. Malherbe's writing is a pleasure to read. Her vivid imagery and her ability to get into her characters' head will keep you riveted until the end. Highly recommend!
March 30, 2019
Thank you to Beacon Books for the ARC, much appreciated.
There are two things that I value about this book. Firstly it exposes us to the experience of a Syrian refugee fleeing the country - how many dreams had to be suppressed, the desperate measures for survival, the deceive and the associated traumas. Secondly The Tower weaves elements of Islamic beliefs and values, which could serve as an introduction or answers to some of the questions that readers had in mind.
I believe it is only my personal preference that I wish some descriptive details in the book are shorter, and some plots are further expanded - such as how Leah begins her friendship with Reem, considering that Leah was initially skeptical of The Tower residences and her different background, and how it further develops and interwines.
Overall a fast-paced read, I finished it in one sitting.
There are two things that I value about this book. Firstly it exposes us to the experience of a Syrian refugee fleeing the country - how many dreams had to be suppressed, the desperate measures for survival, the deceive and the associated traumas. Secondly The Tower weaves elements of Islamic beliefs and values, which could serve as an introduction or answers to some of the questions that readers had in mind.
I believe it is only my personal preference that I wish some descriptive details in the book are shorter, and some plots are further expanded - such as how Leah begins her friendship with Reem, considering that Leah was initially skeptical of The Tower residences and her different background, and how it further develops and interwines.
Overall a fast-paced read, I finished it in one sitting.
October 14, 2019
Once I picked this book up I couldn't put it down till I had read the last page. Wonderful writer that takes you on a journey into each character so that you live the story as you read it. Top notch can't wait for her next book
December 18, 2019
The story of two very unlike young women who come to live in a tower like Grenfell - for me it was a must-read and I highly recommand it.
I was a bit undecided if I should not rate it 5 stars, but it was not that much perfect. The characters are great, still I found some a bit missing out.
I was a bit undecided if I should not rate it 5 stars, but it was not that much perfect. The characters are great, still I found some a bit missing out.
April 5, 2019
A very timely and wonderful read. My review can be found here:
https://www.bookfabulous.com/the-blog...
https://www.bookfabulous.com/the-blog...
June 28, 2019
A thoroughly enjoyable read that will captivate you from start to finish and send you through a spiral of emotions. A must recommend!
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