Preview
  • The Butterfly Mosque

  • A Young American Woman's Journey to Love and Islam
  • By: G. Willow Wilson
  • Narrated by: Catherine Byers
  • Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (144 ratings)

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The Butterfly Mosque

By: G. Willow Wilson
Narrated by: Catherine Byers
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Publisher's summary

The extraordinary story of an all-American girl's conversion to Islam and her ensuing romance with a young Egyptian man, The Butterfly Mosque is a stunning articulation of a Westerner embracing the Muslim world.

When G. Willow Wilson - already an accomplished writer on modern religion and the Middle East at just 27 - leaves her atheist parents in Denver to study at Boston University, she enrolls in an Islamic Studies course that leads to her shocking conversion to Islam and sends her on a fated journey across continents and into an uncertain future.

She settles in Cairo, where she teaches English and submerges herself in a culture based on her adopted religion. And then she meets Omar, a passionate young man with a mild resentment of the Western influences in his homeland. They fall in love, entering into a daring relationship that calls into question the very nature of family, belief, and tradition. Torn between the secular West and Muslim East, Willow records her intensely personal struggle to forge a "third culture" that might accommodate her own values without compromising the friends and family on both sides of the divide.

©2010 G. Willow Wilson. Recorded by arrangement with Grove Atlantic, Inc. (P)2014 Audible Inc.
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What listeners say about The Butterfly Mosque

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
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Very insightful

This work is a rare look inside the mind you f a Muslim convert and her experience “becoming Muslim” in a Muslim country. The narrative is both interesting and insightful.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Engaging, Insightful, Suspenseful, Fascinating

Listened twice. Willow Wilson is an amazing, insightful lady. There's family, politics, religion, joy, adventure.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars

Interesting insight into female Muslim mind.

I have many Muslim friends but as a non Muslim woman I have questions. This book helps explain the constructs. Especially the American vs Arabic nuances.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Beautiful story

Really enjoyed Willow's story. I'm also a convert to Islam, so this felt very close to my heart. Her writing is candid, and I thoroughly enjoyed her views on Cairo.

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3 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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From the heart!

Beautifully written personal journey story that is true to oneself.
The enunciation of Arabic words is a major drawback.
Overall I enjoyed every bit of it. A book for everyone!

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    5 out of 5 stars
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A well written story

I loved the book and forgot it was non-fiction at times. I look forward to reading other works by Mrs. Wilson

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    4 out of 5 stars
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The reader...

The book was great but listening to the reader try to pronounce Arabic words were... 😩

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To be continued !!!

I couldn’t stop listening as I related to so many circumstances
I do admire her journey in impressing Islam
I hope she’s writing now about her and Omar journey in the USA and how their life as Muslims in the USA

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I was surprised

I have learned a lot about my religion. Also I have learned a lot about a woman who went to Egypt. It is a beautiful story.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Vivid

The author transported me to another world and I enjoyed the opportunity to feel as if I were in Egypt with her.

I greatly enjoyed this book, but if one thing could be improved upon it would be the pronunciation.

A small amount of effort regarding basic greetings would have gone a long way, but other than that the narration was quite nice and carried the excitement and emotion in the book.

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1 person found this helpful