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Image courtesy of publisher's website.
y separately published work icon Courting Samira single work   novel  
Issue Details: First known date: 2011... 2011 Courting Samira
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'“So I was turned off a suitor when I saw his shoes. Despite the Arab warrior preference, I didn’t really care about looks. But I had a general rule: if the suitor came in wearing shoes with tassels, a leather jacket circa 1982, and/or a moustache, the doorknock appeal would fail from the outset. A girl has to have some standards, right?”

'It may be the 21st century, but who says courtship is obsolete? Coming from a (not-quite-traditional) Muslim family, 27-year-old Samira Abdel-Aziz knows all about it. But as an assistant at Bridal Bazaar magazine, she's pretty sick of all things wedding-related. Surely there’s more to life than suitors and marriage? Then Samira unwittingly becomes wedding gofer for her cousin/nemesis Zahra and her life begins to resemble a Spanish soap opera – minus the skimpy clothing and the bitch-slaps. This story is a light-hearted but honest peek into the life of a young, single Muslim woman living in Sydney – the joys of a blossoming romance (all very proper), the courtship rituals (so Jane Austen), the struggle with career and, of course, Arab Guilt.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Notes

  • Epigraph: 'But when a young lady is to be a heroine, the perverseness of forty surrounding families cannot prevent her. Something must and will happen to throw a hero in her way.' -- Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen
  • Paperback version of the book launched at Parramatta Library, Sydney in April 2012.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Vaucluse, Sydney Eastern Harbourside, Sydney Eastern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Amal Awad , 2011 .
      Extent: 370p.
      ISBN: 0646566946 (Mixed Media, E-Book, Online Resource), 9780646566948
    • Vaucluse, Sydney Eastern Harbourside, Sydney Eastern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Amal Awad , 2012 .
      image of person or book cover 6854770338237672568.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 358p.
      Description: 1 port.
      Note/s:
      • Contains a glossary of Arabic words and phrases which are included in the novel.
      ISBN: 9780646573687 (pbk.), 0646573683 (pbk.)
    • Neutral Bay, North Sydney - Lane Cove area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Pantera Press , 2021 .
      image of person or book cover 7857819246096408086.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 322p.p.
      Note/s:
      • Published 2 November 2021.
      ISBN: 9780648987642
VIEW PUBLICATION DETAILS FOR ALL VERSIONS ()

Related Works

y separately published work icon This Is How You Get Better Amal Awad , Vaucluse : Amal Awad , 2015 12993964 2015 single work novel

'"Guilt is an emotion for which I have no time. It's exhausting, stops you from having any fun, and is the equivalent of one of those T-shirts that says 'I went to [insert adventure] and all I got was this lousy T-shirt'."

'In recovery mode after a messy divorce from a non-Muslim man, Lara Abdel-Aziz is estranged from her family and out of touch with her best friend Samira. Making ends meet by working in a fast food shop in Sydney, she also sings at a local bar, enjoying the anonymity of a favourite past-time. Local guitar player Leo is good company, but her only other interactions are with her mostly-absent flatmate Icky, and new age store owner Angela, who wants Lara to work for her and get in touch with her higher self.

'Lara is comfortably on autopilot until a near-assault at work forces her into counselling and she must start to unpack the events of her life and make peace with the past.

'Meanwhile, an unexpected encounter with Hakeem, the strict religious friend once in love with Samira, leads to an unlikely connection. As an attraction develops between them, they both begin to repair their broken lives.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.
VIEW ALL RELATED WORKS (1)

Works about this Work

Author Amal Awad Ruby Hamad , 2021 single work column
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 28 August - 3 September 2021;

'Across fiction and nonfiction, Palestinian–Australian author Amal Awad refuses to limit her work with reductive expectations. By Ruby Hamad.' 
The Self-Publishing Sell-In Rita Yazdani , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: Bookseller + Publisher Magazine , June/July vol. 91 no. 9 2012; (p. 17) 'Some booksellers are boing approached daily by self-published authors. So how do they decide which titles to stock?' (Editor's abstract)
Life Matters : Muslim Courtship Natasha Mitchell (interviewer), 2012 single work interview
— Appears in: ABC News [Online] , May 2012;

'Imagine it's your first date or in fact the first time you've even laid eyes on a potential suitor and it's all happening in your parents' lounge room over tea and biscuits!

'Amal Awad has written her first novel, Courting Samira, and it takes us on the dance of love that is Muslim courtship. [From the ABC webpage]
Drawing Room : Amal Awad and Nikki Gemmel Waleed Aly (interviewer), 2012 single work interview
— Appears in: ABC News [Online] , May 2012; What do women want, in a literary sense and is it any different from what men want in a book? Simple questions with very complicated answers and to help solve the quandary, two female writers who appeared at the 2012 Sydney Writers' Festival are interviewed by Aly Waleed. [From the ABC webpage, with slight modification]
Revealing Hunt for a Veiled Love Muslim Chick-Lit Vanessa Stubbs , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: MX , 15 February 2012;
— Review of Courting Samira Amal Awad , 2011 single work novel
Revealing Hunt for a Veiled Love Muslim Chick-Lit Vanessa Stubbs , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: MX , 15 February 2012;
— Review of Courting Samira Amal Awad , 2011 single work novel
Navigating Muslim Courtships Asme Fahmi (interviewer), 2011 2011 single work interview
— Appears in: MuslimVillage.com 2001-;
Drawing Room : Amal Awad and Nikki Gemmel Waleed Aly (interviewer), 2012 single work interview
— Appears in: ABC News [Online] , May 2012; What do women want, in a literary sense and is it any different from what men want in a book? Simple questions with very complicated answers and to help solve the quandary, two female writers who appeared at the 2012 Sydney Writers' Festival are interviewed by Aly Waleed. [From the ABC webpage, with slight modification]
Who Says Courtship Is Obsolete ....? كتاب طريف عن طرق الزواج التقليدية Marie Myssy (interviewer), 2002 single work interview
— Appears in: SBS Podcasting 2002; Courting Samira is a book by Sydney-based author and editor Amal Awad. It tells the story of Samira - a headscarf wearing 27-year old. While her colleagues' work days are punctuated by bars and boyfriends, Samira faces an endless round of visiting male suitors in her living room. This podcast contains an interview with the author. [Adapted from the SBS webpage]
Life Matters : Muslim Courtship Natasha Mitchell (interviewer), 2012 single work interview
— Appears in: ABC News [Online] , May 2012;

'Imagine it's your first date or in fact the first time you've even laid eyes on a potential suitor and it's all happening in your parents' lounge room over tea and biscuits!

'Amal Awad has written her first novel, Courting Samira, and it takes us on the dance of love that is Muslim courtship. [From the ABC webpage]
The Self-Publishing Sell-In Rita Yazdani , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: Bookseller + Publisher Magazine , June/July vol. 91 no. 9 2012; (p. 17) 'Some booksellers are boing approached daily by self-published authors. So how do they decide which titles to stock?' (Editor's abstract)
VIEW ALL WORKS ABOUT (7)
Last amended 15 Dec 2021 16:18:12
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