Does My Head Look Big In This?

The novel’s protagonist, Amal, is a child of Muslim Palestinian immigrants to Australia. This fact informs most of her life and forms a large part of her identity, even though she was born in Australia and feels like a true Australian. Her parents are educated (her father a doctor and her mother a dentist), and they live a comfortable upper-middle-class life, yet Amal feels that their recent immigrant status separates them from other Australians, mostly white Christians, who make up the majority of the population. After having changed schools (going from Islamic College, where she felt amongst her own to a modern, posh private school), Amal experiences complex feelings of not truly belonging, of being “the Muslim girl,” and a target for ridicule. She forms close relationships with only two friends: Eileen (who is Japanese) and Simone (who feels like an outsider because of a perceived weight problem). What further complicates things is Amal’s decision at the beginning of the novel to start wearing a hijab (religious veil) full time. This decision forms the pivotal thread within the work.

Wearing a hijab externalizes most of Amal’s intimate fears. Other students initially avoid her, talk about it behind her back, and even show a certain fear of the “new Amal.