Kauthar by Meike Ziervogel review – a subtle, devastating descent into Islamic extremism

Lydia’s world shrinks to a suffocating conclusion in this gripping, disorienting novel

Written in a disorienting and impassioned stream of consciousness, Meike Ziervogel’s third novel tells the story of a British woman’s conversion and intensifying devotion to Islam, and her eventual extremism. Kauthar, as much an exploration of breakdown and collapse as of the lines between devotion and delusion, faith and fundamentalism, does not shy away from suffering and darkness; instead, as in Magda and Clara’s Daughter, Ziervogel goes bravely to the bleakest points of humanity and illuminates them with her lyrical and enthralling prose.

Religion and personality are tied in Kauthar. In the opening pages, Lydia, aged 11, winded by an accident in a playground, experiences a moment of clarity: “her life, her being, is being revealed to her, in eternity, for eternity”. Here, the seeds of Kauthar, Lydia’s future self, are planted; later, Kauthar reflects “in front of the monkey bars on my knees, I met the Creator Himself”. Lydia and Kauthar battle throughout the book. Lydia, whose life lacks direction – often drunk, having an affair with a married man – invades Kauthar’s thoughts and life when the latter seems to question Islam (“Lydia strokes his head, strokes the head of my husband. I know it is her. She has crept back ... ”). The two fight for attention, for space on the page. As Kauthar’s devotion to Islam grows, Ziervogel phases Lydia out. We are left with a sense of loss, a narrowing of worldview.

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