![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() The New York Times gave the novel a moderately good review saying that " Secret Son is a nuanced depiction of the roots of Islamic terrorism, written by someone who intimately knows one of the stratified societies where it grows" but "Her English prose, although clean and closely observed, lacks music, and her similes can be predictable". ![]() Lalami chose to write the novel in her third language: English, choosing not to use her first two languages: French and Arabic. Critic Steven Salaita compared the novel to Anouar Majid's Si Yussef. The novel chronicles Youssef El Mekkis rise in society, from the slums outside Casablanca to a penthouse apartment with a view of the King Hassan mosque. Like other Arab-American novels, it focuses on themes related to class, gender, religion, migration/immigration and cultural conflict, with a particular emphasis on the cultural conflict that leads to radicalization of terrorists. The novel is a bildungsroman that follows its main character, a Muslim youth named Youssef El Mekki, as he comes of age in the Casablanca slums. Youssef leaves his mother behind to live a life of. Secret Son is the 2009 novel by Moroccan-American writer Laila Lalami. Secret Son Raised by his mother in a one-room house in the slums of Casablanca, Youssef El Mekki has always had big dreams of living another life in. A wealthy businessman, he seems eager to give his son a new start. ![]()
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