An Unforgettable Story about Female Friendship and Queer Love in a Pakistani-American community in Queens
“An ode to adolescence in the vein of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.”
—The New Yorker
“Rehman fully immerses readers in Razia’s world, but she writes with contemporary edge. The narrative never seems historical or predetermined. It feels, rather, like the account of a warrior describing her journey.”
—Los Angeles Times
“Beautifully written…quietly ferocious. It insists on Razia’s Muslim faith as much as her queerness and revels in the grey, in between places.
—Autostraddle
“Stellar…Deeply immersive…The scenes brim with the pluck and tumult of young friendship while also portraying the uneasy racial balance that the first-generation children navigate in 1980s Queens…A distinctive and infectious voice takes hold of the reader from the first page.”
—Publishers Weekly
“An unforgettable voice that moves you from the start.”
— People Magazine
In Marianna’s Beauty Salon, a daughter-witness records the lifelong trades and private tolls of immigration: a promise passed down to children who sing the songs of the new land, learning the charm and violence of strange streets. These poems travel memory’s vast landscapes and never quite get over love’s ability to simultaneously wound and sustain us. Rehman’s poems are about home—the ones we inherit, flee, the homes we lose and still carry, and the homes we become for each other.
— Kamilah Aisha Moon, author of Starshine & Clay and She Has a Name
It has been decades since women of color first turned feminism upside down, exposing the feminist movement as exclusive, white, and unaware of the concerns and issues of women of color from around the globe. Since then, key social movements have risen, including Black Lives Matter, transgender rights, and the activism of young undocumented students.
Colonize This! will reach the hearts and minds of readers who care about the experience of being a woman of color, and about establishing a culture that fosters freedom and agency.
Razia Mirza is a Pakistani woman from Corona, Queens, who grew up in a tight Muslim community surrounding the first Sunni masjid built in New York City. When a rebellious streak leads to her ex-communication, she decides to hit the road. Corona moves between Razia’s childhood and the comedic misadventures she encounters on her journey.
Out of Print. Still exists in Libraries and Used Bookstores.