What is Lesley Hazleton reading?

The current featured contributor at Writers Read: Lesley Hazleton, author of The First Muslim: The Story of Muhammad.

Her entry begins:

Colm Tóibín's new novel The Testament of Mary.

Tóibín makes Mary so achingly human that even as you read, mesmerized, his clear cold-eyed prose makes you want to weep. I have no idea how he does this, but I’m glad he does. He writes in her voice as she looks back, her own death nearing. You could say it’s the voice of a disillusioned Mary, but this woman has never had any illusions. Instead, she’s transcendently clear-eyed.

Among many other things, this short, almost terrifyingly lucid novel is a brilliant commentary on how 'history' is constructed. Mary watches in dismay as the disciples set about creating...[read on]

About The First Muslim, from the publisher:

The extraordinary life of the man who founded Islam, and the world he inhabited—and remade.

Muhammad’s was a life of almost unparalleled historical importance; yet for all the iconic power of his name, the intensely dramatic story of the prophet of Islam is not well known. In The First Muslim, Lesley Hazleton brings him vibrantly to life. Drawing on early eyewitness sources and on history, politics, religion, and psychology, she renders him as a man in full, in all his complexity and vitality.

Hazleton’s account follows the arc of Muhammad’s rise from powerlessness to power, from anonymity to renown, from insignificance to lasting significance. How did a child shunted to the margins end up revolutionizing his world? How did a merchant come to challenge the established order with a new vision of social justice? How did the pariah hounded out of Mecca turn exile into a new and victorious beginning? How did the outsider become the ultimate insider?

Impeccably researched and thrillingly readable, Hazleton’s narrative creates vivid insight into a man navigating between idealism and pragmatism, faith and politics, nonviolence and violence, rejection and acclaim. The First Muslim illuminates not only an immensely significant figure but his lastingly relevant legacy.

Learn more about the book and author at The Accidental Theologist blog.

Hazelton's last book, After the Prophet, was a finalist for the PEN-USA book award.

The Page 99 Test: After the Prophet.

Writers Read: Lesley Hazleton.

--Marshal Zeringue