The White Mosque

Part memoir, travelogue, and history

Samatar’s hybrid work details her secular pilgrimage to the lost village of Ak Metchet (the White Mosque) in the former Muslim Khanate of Khiva (now Uzbekistan) founded by a small band of Mennonites following a charismatic leader predicting Christ’s return in the late 1800s—but at heart it’s an exploration of identity and how stories overlap. She personally was raised Mennonite by a Swiss Mennonite missionary from South Dakota and a Somali Muslim—creating a complicated mosaic. This is for fans of Carmen Maria Machado, Kapka Kassabova, or Kate Zambreno. This is read wonderfully by the author.