Capturing the Full Spectrum of Experiences—Book by Book and Story by Story
Author Deena ElGenaidi shares her lifelong love of reading and the importance of sharing stories for the full spectrum of human experience.
When I started working on my debut novel, Dust Settles North, way back in 2015, I knew I wanted to write a story about Egyptian American adults like me—raised Muslim in America but often clashing with the values their immigrant parents tried to instill in them. My book started out as a short story written for one of my MFA workshops. From there, the work expanded, and the characters grew into people I could relate to. I found myself writing the type of story I wish I had been able to read—a story where I finally saw myself represented.
As a kid, I was an avid reader, devouring Babysitter’s Club books and Nancy Drew novels, begging my mom to take me on weekly trips to Barnes & Noble or Borders (RIP). But in all of those books, most of the characters were white. I never saw myself or my family represented in anything I read or watched, and as a result, I always felt different from my peers, wanting so badly to assimilate. I wonder now if I had seen myself represented in those books back then, would I have felt that same childhood shame about my cultural background?
As I got older and expanded my reading palette, I started to find more books by Arab and Muslim authors. But still, I couldn’t quite connect to them, and I wasn’t seeing my cultural experience represented. Many of those books feature characters that are far more conservative than my family, or far more removed from the American culture I grew up in. And often, there was some subplot about terrorism, perpetuating the stereotype that Arabs are terrorists—or that we’re all just a few degrees away from knowing a terrorist.
When beginning my own novel, I knew I had to write something different. I wanted to show Arab, Muslim characters who lived normal lives in America. Characters who were caught between two cultures, who didn’t follow all the rules of their religion, and who certainly weren’t associated with “terrorism.” There was a gap in Arab American representation, and I intended to start filling it.
That said, my book doesn’t represent every Arab American, and it would be impossible for just one writer to do that. That’s why we need more books by underrepresented authors, so that we can get the full spectrum of experiences. But I at least wanted to represent my own cultural experience so that hopefully others like me could relate and see themselves in a story for the first time.
For me, the first time I felt represented was when the show Ramy came out, depicting an Egyptian, Muslim family living in New Jersey—literally my upbringing. I finally saw a family like mine on TV, and I could relate to the characters in a way I never had before. At the same time, the show’s creator, Ramy Youssef, faced criticism from other Muslims who said that his show did not accurately depict the Muslim experience. But how can just one show depict the entire Muslim experience? Youssef was portraying his own experience, and many, like myself, found it to be relatable.
Through my book, I want others to find something to connect to in the same way I connected to Ramy—and not just Arabs and Muslims. Dust Settles North can be a story for many children of immigrants. My book follows Hannah and Zain, two adult siblings in their twenties, dealing with the aftermath of their mother’s death. Hannah and Zain live between two cultures—not American enough for America and not Egyptian enough for Egypt. Theirs is a common experience among children of immigrants in America, and I hope that through my novel, others can find something to relate to and can see themselves represented in some way through my characters.
Check out Deena ElGenaidi's Dust Settles North here:
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