The House of the Mosque originally written in Dutch and published in 2005 by Kader
Abdolah it narrates the story of a family living beside a mosque in a quiet Iranian town—
where daily life slowly begins to shift as revolution creeps in. At the centre is Aqa Jaan,
trying to keep things as they’ve always been, while younger generations like Shahbal are
pulled into the chaos of change.
What makes this book powerful isn’t just its history—it’s
the feeling of it. The sense of losing home, of watching things change before your eyes, and
still trying to hold on to something familiar. Abdolah lived through all of it and writes with
the kind of honesty that comes from experience. This is a story about prayer and politics,
family and fear, and what happens when the world outside finally makes its way into your
living room. It stays with you. His ability to bring Persian heritage into Dutch literature
demonstrates the power of art to foster inclusion and intercultural dialogue, making The
House of the Mosque a cornerstone of migrant literature in the Netherlands.
Source: https://boekenkrant.com/recensie/het-huis-van-de-moskee-2/
