MY ACCIDENTAL JIHAD

If you're going to bridge the distance between a Southern California upbringing and the world you enter when you marry a Libyan man, you'd better have a sense of humor, serious though your contemplations may be. Xe Sands strikes the balance between these two positions well. She moderates Krista Bremer's wry perceptions with her sincere reflections--for example, as she attempts to explain to her husband (and herself) the commercial celebration of Christmas in contrast to the selfless devotions of Ramadan. There's torment in making peace with the brutality of her son's circumcision, which is part of her husband's cultural belief system, but ultimately Bremer shows grace, and so does her husband. Sands's calm tones connect the many realizations on Bremer's rocky road to change and compassion. S.W. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine [Published: MARCH 2014]