A Tender Struggle

Story of a Marriage

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By Krista Bremer

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$10.99

Price

$13.99 CAD

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ebook

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ebook $10.99 $13.99 CAD

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“A story about love, marriage, compromise, parenthood and the difference between the life one imagined and reality.”*

Fifteen years ago, Krista Bremer, a California-bred feminist, surfer, and aspiring journalist, met Ismail Suayah, sincere, passionate, kind, yet from a very different world. One of eight siblings born in an impoverished fishing village in Libya, Ismail was raised a Muslim—and his faith informed his life. When Krista and Ismail made the decision to become a family, she embarked on a journey she never could have imagined, an accidental jihad: a quest for spiritual and intellectual growth that would open her mind and, more important, her heart.

“A bold piece of writing (and thinking) by an incredibly brave woman.”  —Elizabeth Gilbert, author of The Signature of All Things

“A moving, lyrical memoir.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Candid and rich.” —Good Housekeeping

“Unrelenting candor and  gorgeous prose.” —BookPage

“Krista Bremer has a very good story.” —The New York Times Book Review

“A beautiful account of [Krista’s] jihad, or struggle, to find peace within herself and within her marriage.” —The Kansas City Star

“Lucid, heartfelt, and profoundly humane . . . Navigates the boundaries of religion and politics to arrive at the universal experience of love.” —G. Willow Wilson, author of Alif the Unseen

“This is a memoir worth reading.” —*Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Genre:

  • My Accidental Jihad is a bold piece of writing (and thinking) by an incredibly brave woman.” —Elizabeth Gilbert, author of The Signature of All Things and Eat, Pray, Love

    “Utterly absorbing . . . A beautiful book.” —Cheryl Strayed, author of Wild

    “Candid and rich.” —Good Housekeeping

    “Lucid, heartfelt and profoundly humane, My Accidental Jihad navigates the boundaries of religion and politics to arrive at the universal experience of love.” —G. Willow Wilson, author of Alif the Unseen

    “A beautiful account of [Bremer’s] jihad, or struggle, to find peace within herself and within her marriage.” —The Kansas City Star

    “Readers of memoir will welcome this love story about patience and kindness and learning the importance of putting culture first.” —Library Journal

    “A moving, lyrical memoir . . . A sweet and rewarding journey of a book.” —Kirkus Reviews

    “Told with rare honesty, My Accidental Jihad is the story of Krista Bremer's lifelong quest for insight and understanding, a search that leads her out of the Pacific surf to journalism school in North Carolina and through the complex challenges and unexpected joys of a cross-cultural marriage and family. This book is a powerfully personal account of the courage and hard work necessary to open one's heart and keep it that way.” —Maggie Shipstead, author of Seating Arrangements

    My Accidental Jihad is one of the most captivating and moving memoirs I've read in years. The story Krista Bremer tells--one of radical foreignness between a married couple--could be a metaphor for all committed relationships.” —Haven Kimmel, author of A Girl Named Zippy

On Sale
Apr 22, 2014
Page Count
304 pages
Publisher
Algonquin Books
ISBN-13
9781616203979

Krista Bremer

About the Author

Krista Bremer is the associate publisher of The Sun magazine and the recipient of a Rona Jaffe Foundation award. Her essay on which this book is based, “My Accidental Jihad,” received a Pushcart Prize. Her essays have been published in O: The Oprah Magazine,More magazine, and The Sun, and she’s been featured on NPR and in the PBS series Arab American Stories. Her website is http://www.kristabremer.com.

Learn more about this author