Nussaibah Younis's Desert Island Books

Featuring a bonkers and spectacular novel which follows two unemployed potters in ancient Sicily, and a poetic, nuanced, and deeply vulnerable book...

It’s highly likely you’ve already heard of Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis, published this coming week. Named Stylist’s debut of the year and lauded by the likes of Dolly Alderton and Catherine Newman, it’s a bold and thought-provoking novel about radicalism and racism, faith and friendship.

At its heart is Nadia, a British Asian academic disillusioned with her life in London—she’s broken up with her girlfriend, distanced herself from the Islam of her childhood, and struggles with her puritanical mother. In search of a sea change, she takes a job with the UN in Iraq, where she’s tasked with creating a de-radicalisation program for ISIS ‘brides.’

One of them is Sara, a 15-year-old from East London now living in a refugee camp, wrapped in a diamanté-trimmed headscarf and longing for Cadbury’s Dairy Milk. Through Nadia’s work, the novel explores the complexities of international aid, rehabilitation, and the deeply personal nature of belief and belonging.

If you’d like to get your hands on a copy of this brilliant debut, consider becoming a paid subscriber to my Substack for your chance to win a copy. Each week, paid subscribers are automatically entered into a draw to win a book by that week’s featured author. Otherwise, consider buying it from Bookshop.org—a better way to shop online, where every purchase supports local independent bookstores.

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I believe in writing without a paywall—but it does take time. If you’re enjoying this post, I’d be so grateful if you considered buying me a coffee. It would absolutely make my day.

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And now, without further ado, read on to find out which eight books Nussaibah would take with her on a dream desert island escape.

Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon

I live in awe of this bonkers and spectacular novel which follows two unemployed potters in ancient Sicily as they try to stage a Euripides play with captive Athenians (all in an Irish accent.) I will never tire of this insanely original tale, told with such verve and ambition, each page totally unpredictable. It truly contains multitudes—I laughed, I cried, I audibly gasped—and it will make the desert island feel completely alive.

Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters

When you come from a minority that is constantly under attack, it takes guts to write honestly and critically about your own community. But Peters gets stuck into the messy, contradictory, and problematic elements of life as a trans woman—seeking only to tell the whole truth. The novel gave me the courage I needed to write about ISIS brides, when I was afraid of fuelling Islamophobic narratives. Detransition, Baby taught me that empathy emerges when readers are allowed to meet characters who are complex, flawed and utterly human.

Scoop by Evelyn Waugh

This completely hilarious and whip-smart satire of war journalism feels troublingly relatable despite being penned in the 1930s. My own writing has been heavily influenced by the rich tradition of the British satirical novel and Scoop is one of the very best. Waugh absolutely skewers the British press and provides genuinely interesting insights whilst keeping the reader entertained from start to finish. It's light enough to keep me cheery on bleak desert island nights.

The Appointment by Katharina Volckmer

The most audacious novel I have ever read, The Appointment uses shocking humour to savage German society's failure to grapple with the aftermath of the Holocaust. Deliberately vulgar and profane, the protagonist engages in a stream-of-consciousness monologue that exposes Germany's troubling desire to 'possess' Jewishness whilst simultaneously failing to root out antisemitism. A work of genius that long days on a desert island will allow me to unpick.

Arrangements in Blue by Amy Key

This is a poetic, nuanced and deeply vulnerable book about the experience of being single, woven together with a beautiful meditation on Joni Mitchell's album Blue. Key explores the profound heartbreaks and unexpected joys of being alone in a society that centres romantic relationships. I spent an entire Sunday in bed weeping with this book, listening to Joni Mitchell on repeat, and I'd want to recreate this moment of catharsis on my desert island.

A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby

I love that feeling of being unable to suppress a laugh even though you're on public transport and people are staring at you. I had that experience reading A Long Way Down on a plane, where I kept bursting into laughter, even though the novel is literally about suicide. Hornby creates a spectacular band of misfits who try to keep one another alive, despite their miserable circumstances, with plenty of room for genuine emotion and thoughtfulness alongside the hilarity.

The Lamb by Lucy Rose

This folktale about a mother and daughter who pick off strays in the forest, and whose lives are upended by the arrival of a more permanent guest, is a stunning literary masterpiece. Mournful, elegiac and completely heartbreaking, it's the most powerful allegory of child abuse I've ever read and it tore my heart into pieces. Taking along this novel will remind me that being alone on a desert island is not the worst of fates.

We All Want Impossible Things by

Catherine Newman

This novel achieves the rarest of feats by making you laugh while you are sobbing, your face guffawing even as it's covered in tears and snot. It follows a woman caring for her best friend at the end of life, tenderly holding ice cubes against her parched lips, but also sneaking off to have sex in the hospice cupboard. All of life is present in this book: grief, joy, horniness, and a celebration of everything human beings are.