Deal Sharing Aunt: Whispers from the East by Amie Ali Interview

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Whispers from the East by Amie Ali Interview

Historical Fiction / Literary Fiction

Date Published: 7/1/2015

Ammi, a pregnant 24-year-old, flees New Delhi with millions of Muslim migrants in the early hours of the 1947 Partition of India, clawing her way through a controversial caste system and into the heart of Lahori society.

A family broken by betrayal.
Two of Ammi's beloved sons immigrate to the United States and secretly marry dazzling, contemporary American brides. One bride converts to Islam. The other commits apostasy, the sin of all sins.

Three women who stand to lose everything.
The collision of two belief systems—two worlds—come to a head as Ammi, Carolyn, and Ivy fight to keep their own marriages, families, and futures secure.

Amie Ali's stories focus on the lives of Western women who find love among the cultural breadth of Middle Eastern, North African, and South Asian countries. Weaving western expectations of love and family with extensive cultural and religious differences, she enjoys writing stories that bridge divides and offer a peek into these diverse, often controversial relationships.

Interview:

What inspired you to write your first book?

I had stories to tell. I think we all do. Fortunately, I also have the time to write them down.

Do you have a specific writing style?

I write mostly in vignettes. I basically take snapshots of moments in different people's lives and then weave them together into one story—even though each could be read singly as its own.

How did you come up with the title?

Here's a little insider secret: authors don't get to pick their titles. They have a say in them, but book titles (and cover art) are considered marketing decisions by the publisher. Unless an author is self-published, they don't pick their title. It's not very sexy, but that's how it works.

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

I want a reader to see what interfaith marriages are really like. A lot of people wonder why a Western non-Muslim woman would marry a Muslim man. The answer is almost universal: for love.

I want a reader who is in an interfaith marriage to see how normal her struggles (and her joys) are. There are many voices and I am proud to be among them.

How much of the book is realistic?

The book is completely realistic. All the characters are made up of bits and pieces of real people and their journeys. While no character is based on any single individual, they comprise entirely of small fragments of the many women I have met and spoken to in my lifetime.

Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?

I am in an interfaith marriage myself and am included in the fabric I mentioned beforehand. I am none of the women, and I am all of the women.

What books have most influenced your life most?

A lot of authors—a lot of people—have read a book that they can connect to a moment of change in their life. For me, that book is The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It wasn't because I could relate to it or because I saw myself in it, but because it was the first book I read that made me want to pick up another book for pleasure, and not because I had to. That was the moment I began to love literature. And that was a life-changing moment for me.

If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?

It would have to be Sandra Cisneros, who showed me the beauty of weaving vignettes.

What book are you reading now?

Go Set The Watchman by Harper Lee.

What would you like my readers to know?

I'd like your readers to know that I believe in love. Love in all its varieties and in all its flavors. I think we try very hard to package up a fairytale and carry it with us into our real loves. While relationships have their fairytale moments, there are real stories to be told about many, many different types of love. If you are looking for a new one, you're in luck—because I happen to have one right here!

Amie Ali

Author of Whispers from the East