{"product_id":"9781555975821","title":"The Convert: A Tale of Exile and Extremism","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA spellbinding story of renunciation, conversion, and radicalism\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhat drives a young woman raised in a postwar New York City suburb to convert to Islam, abandon her country and Jewish faith, and embrace a life of exile in Pakistan? \u003ci\u003eThe Convert \u003c\/i\u003etells the story of how Margaret Marcus of Larchmont became Maryam Jameelah of Lahore, one of the most trenchant and celebrated voices of Islam’s argument with the West. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA cache of Maryam’s letters to her parents in the archives of the New York Public Library sends the acclaimed biographer Deborah Baker on her own odyssey into the labyrinthine heart of twentieth-century Islam. Casting a shadow over these letters is the mysterious figure of Mawlana Abul Ala Mawdudi, both Maryam’s adoptive father and the man who laid the intellectual foundations for militant Islam. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs she assembles the pieces of a singularly perplexing life, Baker finds herself captive to questions raised by Maryam’s journey. Is her story just another bleak chapter in a so-called clash of civilizations? Or does it signify something else entirely? And then there’s this: Is the life depicted in Maryam’s letters home and in her books an honest reflection of the one she lived? Like many compelling and true tales, \u003ci\u003eThe Convert \u003c\/i\u003eis stranger than fiction. It is a gripping account of a life lived on the radical edge and a profound meditation on the cultural conflicts that frustrate mutual understanding.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Graywolf Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47040425951472,"sku":"9781555975821","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781555975821_p0.jpg?v=1763760693","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781555975821","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}