‘Arriving for the first time, tucked into a UN car, I watched as the city lights refracted through the bulletproof glass. Floodlights hovered over a pickup football game, square lamps uplit the National Museum, fairy lights dripped down the palm trees beside the Tigris River. Why was it so…nice?’
– Fundamentally
[ About Fundamentally ]
By normal, you mean like you? A slag with a saviour complex?’
Nadia is an academic who’s been disowned by her puritanical mother and dumped by her lover, Rosy. She decides to make a getaway, accepting a UN job in Iraq. Tasked with rehabilitating ISIS women, Nadia becomes mired in the opaque world of international aid, surrounded by bumbling colleagues.
Sara is a precocious and sweary East Londoner who joined ISIS at just fifteen.
Nadia is struck by how similar they are: both feisty and opinionated, from a Muslim background, with a shared love of Dairy Milk and rude pick-up lines. A powerful friendship forms between the two women, until a secret confession from Sara threatens everything Nadia has been working for.
[ My Review ]
Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis publishes February 25th with W&N and is described as ‘a bitingly original, wildly funny and razor-sharp exploration of love, family, religion and the decisions we make in pursuit of belonging…upends and explores a defining controversy of our age with heart, complexity and humour.’
Original and sharp are definitely the first two words that come to mind when attempting to describe Fundamentally. Nussaibah Younis is ‘a globally recognised expert on contemporary Iraq.’ Her personal experience as a young Muslim girl, with a very devout upbringing, brought her into close contact with controversial individuals. Later in life she became an advisor to the Iraqi government discussing the possibility of de-radicalisation programs for women who had gotten caught up in the ISIS ideology. Nussaibah ‘avoided radicalisation and is deeply empathetic toward teenage girls who were less fortunate.’ Based on the fictional tale of a young idealist and academic, Nussaibah Younis pulls back the covers and gives the reader a fascinating and biting insight into life on a UN base in the Green Zone of Baghdad in 2019.
Dr Nadia Amin, a recently appointed lecturer in criminology in UCL, arrives to the city, after taking a sabbatical, to lead a UN de-radicalisation program for young ISIS brides. Naïve and bursting with righteousness, Nadia is soon brought to ground when she realises the full scope of what her job entails. Kowtowing to Iraqi officials and tribal leaders leaves Nadia sick to her stomach. On paper her suggestions had merit, or so she thought, but the reality was to be very different.
Nadia had accepted the offer to travel to Iraq on the rebound from a relationship that had changed her life completely. During her college years she had crossed paths with Rosy and under Rosy’s influence, Nadia has cast aside her heritage embracing a more hedonistic lifestyle. Her complete transition from a devout Muslim young lady to a party animal caused undeniable fractures in her family life but the freedom was exciting and Nadia embraced it. But when Rosy cast her to one side, Nadia was in freefall. This trip to Baghdad was going to provide the much needed distance from her reality back home and Nadia was hopeful it would instil a sense of confidence within her that was well and truly shaken. But Nadia’s enthusiasm was short-lived as she saw for herself the role of the diplomat and the game that had to be played to keep all sides talking.
When Nadia crossed paths with Sara, a British ISIS bride from the age of fifteen, her whole perspective changed and her purpose became more driven. Her frustrations mounted, eventually causing friction among her UN colleagues but Nadia, unable to see the wood from the trees, decided on a rather extreme course of action.
Nadia Amin is outspoken, unfiltered and quite out-there with her manner. Very much her own woman, she speaks the unspeakable and is unafraid, or unaware, of the potential consequences of her actions. Nadia is hurting and upset. There is this need in her to fix things but this lack of patience does not sit well within the environs of the UN and all who work there, leaving Nadia a bit of an outcast at times. Nadia wants to do right but does her decision-making always lead her down the appropriate path?
Fundamentally asks many questions about society today and how the political and social wheels turn. Nadia and Sara are two fascinating individuals with intertwining back stories yet also ones that run in complete opposite directions. Both are quite brash and offensive, but also there is also a vulnerability evident that bonds them from the outset. Their heritage is a strong connection but they have both chosen very different paths. Nadia sees hope in Sara but does Sara want to change?
As Nussaibah Younis states Fundamentally is ‘probably not for the easily offended’ and this is very true. I certainly did struggle at times with the characters and just could not connect but I suspect much of that was to do with cultural differences and my age. I’m not so sure that mid fifties would be the target reader! Plenty of sassy language is used throughout and I think many readers will be quite surprised by the style and pace of the novel. Using quite a quirky and arresting approach, Fundamentally explores multiple complex themes of race, religion, insecurities, cultural differences, social issues, politics and so much more. Quite a unique debut with a light-hearted view of a very relevant and oft-times hostile topic.
*Thank you to Hachette Ireland for a copy of Fundamentally is exchange for my honest review.
[ Bio ]
‘After a ten-year career in academia, think-tanks and peacebuilding in the Middle East, I jacked it all in and wrote a novel. Fundamentally will be released in the US and the UK on 25th February 2025. I write biting satire covering everything from global politics to faith, queer identity and relationships. Probably not for the easily offended. I live in North London with my gorgeous labradoodle Mish Mish, and am writing my second novel.’
– Nussaibah Younis
