Hijab Butch Blues: A Memoir

Lamya H. debuts with a thoughtful examination of her queer South Asian identity and Islamic faith. At age 14, Lamya, who uses a pseudonym to protect her identity, first read Surah Maryam, the Quran’s chapter about the woman known in Christianity as the Virgin Mary, and felt a kinship with her, as they were both “uninterested in men.” As a young adult, Lamya moved to the United States from an unnamed Arab city in the Middle East. She encountered rampant Islamophobia at her (unnamed) American university—most painfully in queer circles that didn’t believe a gay person could be Muslim—but gradually found a community of queer Muslims who welcomed her. “This is the world fourteen-year-old me couldn’t even begin to imagine,” she writes. Through the stories of prophets accepting the wahi (a divine revelation or command), Lamya finds the joy in embracing and sharing her queer, Muslim selfhood as a wahi of her own: “It’s that glorious feeling that comes from inviting someone into your world.” The narrative is profoundly emotional, and Lamya’s determination to fight for a better world hits home: “I’m also not faithless enough to think that the direction in which I strive doesn’t matter.” This will inspire both compassion and reflection. Agent: Julia Kardon, HG Literary. (Feb.)