This novel, a tale of a heartbroken English academic who finds herself running a United Nations-funded team in Iraq to deradicalise and repatriate ISIS brides, is an absolute joy to read!
An odd statement given the subject matter, perhaps, but the hilarious situations the fictional characters find themselves in, set against the brutal backdrop of Middle Eastern realities, make for a truly engaging experience. It's as if "Call My Agent" meets "The State" meets "M*A*S*H", and it's an absolute hoot!
Hats off to Nussaibah Younis for this wild ride. I'm fairly certain there's nothing quite like this out there – a satirical story about day-to-day life set deep within the world of Islamic State detritus that isn't simply a news headline. It's a story featuring lesbians, haughty diplomat nepo-babies, fit security detail, Muslims across the spectrum, a wise counsel driver, a yoga-loving Californian convert imam, orthodox parents, shifty sheikhs, plenty of sex, petty squabbles, and characters who simply must make it into a TV adaptation of this deliciously original book.
It's unsurprising that life is rather hedonistic in the Green Zone, the protected UN-occupied area, and Nadia is swiftly swallowed up by the politics, corruption, ineptitude, rivalry, and pleasure-where-you-can-get-it vibe. You'd be forgiven for immediately thinking of Shamima Begum when Nadia, our protagonist, first arrives at the Iraqi camp and meets mouthy 19-year-old East Londoner Sara amongst the captive women. Sara, thrice married (all 'martyred') with a baby girl who has been taken from her, is one of the women Nadia is tasked with rehabilitating and persuading their native countries to take back.
No spoilers here, but the book is packed with laugh-out-loud dialogue and situations. From Nadia's relationship with her estranged mother (orthodox Muslim who took four years to accept her daughter’s secular lifestyle) to UN programmes and schemes going alarmingly wrong, Younis keeps the reader thoroughly entertained. Her own academic background and work on rehabilitation with the Iraqi government have equipped her with the knowledge and understanding to recreate a fictional situation based on events and realities she has first-hand experience of.
Younis has pulled off no mean feat in giving us an albeit fictional take on UN activities and personalities – and in doing so, she has provided insight into what often feels like an impenetrable and much-maligned global organisation. It's easy to forget that there are living, breathing individuals behind those two letters. 'Fundamentally' is so darkly funny, warm-hearted, and de-toxifying as it cleverly slams the lid on the ease with which too many practice 'othering' people from cultures we have so little understanding of.

I really enjoyed this - it so different from the other books that I have been reading recently, it is an absolute breath of fresh air. The topic is one that keeps rearing its head in the media, but there is no apparent solution - what does the world do with the ISIS brides?

I know nothing about the topic and apologise if I offend with my ignorance but I felt that the characters were well developed, I veered from sympathy to wariness with Sara, and there is humour, even in the dark corners of the Iraqi camp.

It is a hit with me!