This Green and Pleasant Land Winner of The Diverse Book Awards 2020

For years Bilal Hasham and his wife Mariam have lived contented, quiet lives in the sleepy rural village of Babbel's End. Now all that is about to change. On her deathbed, Bilal's mother reaches for his hand. Instead of whispering her final prayers, she gives him a task: build a mosque in his country village. Mariam is horrified by Bilal's plan. His friends and neighbours are unnerved. As outrage sweeps Babbel's End, battle lines are drawn. His mother's dying wish reveals deeper divisions in their village than Bilal had ever imagined. Soon Bilal is forced to choose between community and identity, between faith and friendship, between honouring his beloved mother's last wish and preserving what is held... SHORTLISTED FOR THE DIVERSE BOOK AWARDS 'Tender, challenging and as warm as it was razor-sharp' Beth O'Leary 'If you've read Joanna Cannon I think you'll love this' Simon Savidge 'A sublimely witty and touching story' Jonathan Coe The standout new novel by acclaimed author Ayisha Malik - perfect for fans of David Nicholls and Candice Carty-Williams . In the sleepy village of Babel's End, trouble is brewing. Bilal Hasham is having a mid-life crisis. His mother has just died, and he finds peace lying in a grave he's dug in the garden. His elderly Auntie Rukhsana has come to live with him, and forged an unlikely friendship with village busybody, Shelley Hawking. His wife Mariam is distant and distracted, and his stepson Haaris is spending more time with his real father. Bilal's mother's dying wish was to build a mosque in Babel's End, but when Shelley gets wind of this scheme, she unleashes the forces of hell. Will Bilal's mosque project bring his family and his beloved village together again, or drive them apart? Warm, wise and laugh-out-loud funny, This Green and Pleasant Land is a life-affirming look at love, faith and the meaning of home. Accountant Bilal Hasham and his journalist wife, Mariam, plod along contentedly in the sleepy, chocolate box village they've lived in for eight years. Then Bilal is summoned to his dying mother's bedside in Birmingham. Sakeena Hasham is not long for this world but refuses to leave it until she ensures that her son remembers who he is: a Muslim, however much he tries to ignore it. She has a final request. Instead of whispering her prayers in her dying moments, she instructs Bilal to go home to his village, Babbels End, and build a mosque. Mariam is horrified. The villagers are outraged. How can a grieving Bilal choose between honouring his beloved mum's last wish and preserving everything held dear in the village he calls home? But it turns out home means different things to different people. Battle lines are drawn and this traditional little community becomes the colourful canvas on which the most current and fundamental questions of identity, friendship, family and togetherness are played out. What makes us who we are, who do we want to be, and how far would we go to fight for it? "Accountant Bilal Hasham and his journalist wife Mariam plod along contentedly in the sleepy, chocolate box Dorset village they've lived in for ten years. Then Bilal is summoned to his mother's bedside in Birmingham. Mrs Sakheena Hasham knows she is not long for this world. She has a final request. Instead of whispering her prayers in her dying moments, she instructs her son: You must go home to your village, and you must build a mosque. Mariam is horrified. The villagers are outraged. How can a grieving Bilal choose between honouring his beloved mum's last wish and preserving everything held dear in the village he calls home? But it turns out home means different things to different people. Battle lines are drawn and this traditional little community becomes the colourful canvas on which the most current and fundamental questions of identity, friendship, family and togetherness are played out. What makes us who we are, who do we want to be, and how far would we go to fight for it?"--Provided by publisher This is Malik's best work to date - satirical, controversial, knowing and essential - Vaseem KhanThis Green and Pleasant Land, a novel that simmers with tenderness, is a deeply relevant book that is bound to ruffle a fair few feathers, but the right feathers, and for the right reasons - Caroline O'Donoghue In een Engels dorpje wil een moslim een moskee bouwen wat op veel weerstand stuit van de andere dorpsbewoners. NL-ZmNBD