Good Intentions: ‘Captivating and heartbreaking’ Stylist

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Sally Rooney, author of the phenomenally successful Normal People. Photograph: David Levenson/Getty Images Rhys Thomas: And how much of this book does stem from your own life? I know the geography is biographical. You’re from Birmingham as is the main character, and lived in Nottingham which is where he lives. No taboo is off-limits in Kasim Ali's bold and thought-provoking debut. Good Intentions is a necessary addition to literature." It got worse when she introduced her son to an array of brown women for him to consider: all of them wearing stereotypical clothes, speaking meekly, and not given any agency.

A sensitive, smooth-toned, and absorbingly honest novel that makes us question our inner worlds at a time when this kind of self-examination might be the thing that saves us." As I have watched these shallow, one-dimensional depictions of Islam, I’ve found myself giving the excuse: “But it isn’t created by Muslims”. How could these non-Muslim creators, I thought, ever depict us wholly when they are not us? That was an easier pill to swallow than accept that they did not care – or worse, that they only had one idea of what a Muslim was. If you like reading books about complicated or unlikable human beings, Good Intentions is a great option as it is also layered, culturally and politically relevant, and thought-provoking.' The New Arab Family obligation and racial prejudice sit alongside the flush of first love. Expect to be heartbroken’ ElleI want to show that you can be a South Asian softboi, and that you can be the kind of person who falls in love with someone and expresses that emotion” – Kasim Ali A] clever novel about vulnerability and victimhood that subtly subverts the reader’s expectations’ Sunday Times Karolina Sutton, an agent at Curtis Brown, is surprised that men are feeling excluded from fiction. She stresses that it has taken women centuries to find their voice and be confident within publishing: “Why wasn’t there uproar in the media when women were excluded?” she asks. “It’s happened for the first time ever and we know very little about what this means in the long term.”

however … i found nur and yasmina - especially yasmina - hard to warm to. i struggled to root for either of them. i think them having flaws was effective and refreshing to see, however it’s important to root for characters and often i felt disconnected; which could be due to the 3rd person narration. however, i LOVED the side characters - imran and rahat 🥺 every time they were in a scene i got very very happy - they were just so lovable, and i wish i’d felt that way about nur and yasmina. i also loved nur’s siblings - they were such a great addition to the story. Nagging parents who believe marriage is the most important thing in the world; a disillusioned South Asian Muslim man who wants to escape his culture; a white love interest who represents Western freedom.

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That male publisher is at pains to point out that, yes, “the exciting writing is coming from women right now” and that he himself publishes more women. But this is “because there aren’t that many men around. Men aren’t coming through.” It’s only relatively recently that fiction written by a woman about intimate subjects like sex has been classed as literary fiction Megan Nolan Nolan agrees that this cultural shift has coincided with “a momentous, dramatic influx of young women”. But that’s because “it’s only relatively recent that you could have fiction written by a woman about intimate subjects like sex – and for it to be classed as literary fiction”. He sympathises with readers who are turning away from fiction by men, partly because “the whole 20th century was a pretty close examination of male sexual desire”, but mainly because he believes that today’s male writers are “running scared” and “pandering” to what they think women want. “They think that to be allowed a place at the table, they need to have the right views and be these nice guys. They’re in danger of rendering themselves even less worth reading than they are already.”