Four Eids and a Funeral

This gentle romance stars two of the sweetest young lovers you are likely to meet in YA fiction. Said and Tiwa are childhood friends who grow apart when Said goes off to fancy boarding school. Each is furious with the other for their apparent ‘ghosting’. With Said back home for the funeral of their much-loved librarian, Ms Barnes and then for Eid though, they can’t avoid one another, especially as his sister Safiyah is Tiwa’s best friend. Ms Barnes manages a bit of post-mortem matchmaking too, her will making them jointly responsible for the care of her cat, Laddoo. Then they find themselves working together campaigning urgently for a replacement when the town’s Islamic centre, important to both, but especially Tiwa, is almost destroyed in a fire; the mayor’s lack of enthusiasm for the project forcing them closer together still.

Aside from their initial anger with one another and their sharp sense of betrayal, there are no real obstacles to their love, and readers are never in much doubt that this story will have a happy ending. Tension and drama come from their efforts to save the Islamic Centre, which also touches on the kind of prejudice we don’t usually see (the town’s Muslim community responding better to Said’s requests for help, than Tiwa’s); and from Said’s worries over how his family will react when he tells them that he’s enrolling for art college, not medical school. In fact, the latter issue is resolved remarkably smoothly, Said’s family proving to be just as supportive as we expect them to be. Even the shocking discovery of who is responsible for interrupting their relationship, the book’s big reveal, causes no real upset, the culprit’s motives accepted and their actions forgiven. The authors allow Said and Tiwa’s relationship to grow quietly and smoothly amongst their loving, supportive community, a community depicted with real warmth and understanding. There are laughs and surprises along the way and reading it is as much of a treat as nibbling laddoos.