I've been waiting for the chance to blog about the kind of book that's so good that I can unequivocally recommend it... and here it is. I looked on NPR's website for their best books of 2011 and Amy Waldman's The Submission made the list. I was intrigued by the brief description and found it at the library. There was good reason for it to make the top ten list... it was definitely one of the best books I've read in a while.
The story is set post-9/11. There is a competition to design a memorial for the victims of the attack and the panel has one victim family member, Claire Burwell. Claire is adamant about choosing one of the designs, a garden, and convinces most of the other jurors. After the design is selected, the jury learns that the designer is named Mohammad Khan and that he is Muslim. The racism towards Muslims after 9/11 is brought to life in an amazing, vivid way. Waldman looks at it from every possible angle in a way that is so rare and feels like a true gift. You begin to feel for all these characters deeply and because of that the book moves pretty fast. You want to know what will happen with this design-- which side will eventually prevail. I left the book feeling like I learned about something I knew only briefly about (the intense racism towards Muslims after 9/11) and felt richer after having finished the book. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to everyone. There is a website for more information about the book if you are interested:
http://www.thesubmissionnovel.com/
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