‘By normal, you mean like you? A slag with a saviour complex?’
When academic Nadia is disowned by her puritanical mother and dumped by her lover, she decides to make a getaway – accepting a UN job in Iraq. Tasked with rehabilitating ISIS women, Nadia becomes mired in the opaque world of international aid, surrounded by bumbling colleagues.
But then Nadia meets Sara, a precocious and sweary East Londoner who joined ISIS at just fifteen, and she is struck by how similar their stories are. Both from a Muslim background, both feisty and opinionated, with a shared love of Dairy Milk and rude pick-up lines, Sara and Nadia immediately connect and a powerful friendship forms. When Sara confesses a secret, Nadia is forced to make a difficult choice.
A bitingly original, wildly funny and razor-sharp exploration of love, family, religion, radicalism, and the decisions we make in pursuit of connection and belonging, Fundamentally upends and explores a defining controversy of our age with heart, complexity and humour – delivered by one of the most fearless and talented new voices in contemporary fiction.
When academic Nadia is disowned by her puritanical mother and dumped by her lover, she decides to make a getaway – accepting a UN job in Iraq. Tasked with rehabilitating ISIS women, Nadia becomes mired in the opaque world of international aid, surrounded by bumbling colleagues.
But then Nadia meets Sara, a precocious and sweary East Londoner who joined ISIS at just fifteen, and she is struck by how similar their stories are. Both from a Muslim background, both feisty and opinionated, with a shared love of Dairy Milk and rude pick-up lines, Sara and Nadia immediately connect and a powerful friendship forms. When Sara confesses a secret, Nadia is forced to make a difficult choice.
A bitingly original, wildly funny and razor-sharp exploration of love, family, religion, radicalism, and the decisions we make in pursuit of connection and belonging, Fundamentally upends and explores a defining controversy of our age with heart, complexity and humour – delivered by one of the most fearless and talented new voices in contemporary fiction.
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Reviews
A white-hot critique of international aid, with side-splitting prose
Impossibly funny whilst darkly probing, Fundamentally is the whole package: a raunchy, irreverent, touching, and daring debut with slicing commentary wrapped in bold, biting humour. It slyly and systematically rejects our swallowed concepts of heroes and who is correct, and posits instead the better question: what is right?
Funny, gripping and compassionate; Fundamentally is a truly original novel that you won't be able to put down
Clever and thoughtful: passionate but clear-eyed, confronting but nuanced, enlightening and. . . very funny
Bold yet subtle, witty and constantly surprising: such an impressive debut
Overflowing with humour, humanity and compassion. This is such a timely novel that teaches us that there's always more than meets the eye. The prose is stark and laugh out loud funny whilst stopping to pull at your heartstrings when you least expect. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous
I loved Fundamentally. I laughed all the way through . . . it's brilliantly done. It's impressive how the book combines elements of farce with such emotional depth and moral complexity. An incredibly accomplished debut.
Absolutely hilarious - a Muslim Fleabag
Not only hysterically funny but trenchant and necessary. I loved it
Tart, tender, trenchant, and hilarious, Fundamentally is a brilliant novel about faith and friendship that refuses to be any one single thing -- because it is EVERYTHING. Nussaibah Younis is a genius
I really, REALLY loved it - the voice, the setting, the plot, all of it. It's original, warm, funny and engaging. A breath of fresh air