Review: "The Submission" by Amy Waldman

This fictional story is about some of the possible prejudices that America was left with after the horrible attack of 9/11. A monument is to be built for the victims where the World Trade Towers stood. The public is invited to submit proposals for the design and the winner is chosen anonymously. The successful design was a beautiful, serene garden, then the name of the designer is revealed and he was a model American from Muslim decent. His name was Mohammad Khan. The hysteria, whipped up by the newspapers, that this fact generates has devastating effects. It leads to soul searching for all parties, from family members of victims to the average Joe on the street.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I like to read books that make me contemplate what I would do. I was able to put myself in everyone’s shoes and understand why they felt the way they did. I also could appreciate each characters moral dilemma. Although the author may have felt she needed a huge cast of characters, I do feel that there were too many and they were not completely developed. Some were stereotypical. Also, the characters were sometimes called by different names (sometimes first name, sometimes last) and I found this very confusing.

Barring the few glitches mentioned about, this book is a riveting story for discussion with friends or just for self-contemplation.