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Fundamentally
by Nussaibah Younis
medium-paced
FUNDAMENTALLY, NUSAIBAH YUNIS, SHORTLISTED FOR WOMEN'S PRIZE 2025
Nusaibah Yunis’s Fundamentally is a bold, deeply intelligent debut that navigates the fault lines between faith, family, and feminism in a global context.
At the centre of the story is Dr. Nadia Amin, a British lecturer in criminology, who is recovering from a painful breakup. When her article on deradicalization gains international attention, she’s offered a position by the United Nations to lead a rehabilitation program in Iraq for former ISIS brides—an initiative called UNDO. Although she accepts the role as a challenge, Nadia remains unsure of her own suitability for the task. What follows is an intricate journey through the layers of international bureaucracy, tribal politics, and moral complexity.
Nadia is a fascinatingly human protagonist—at times deeply self-assured, at other times plagued by self-doubt. Yunis captures this vacillation with subtlety, allowing readers to witness Nadia’s internal struggle as she tries to reconcile her professional responsibilities with her personal insecurities. This tension gives her character depth and emotional resonance.
Yunis also skilfully portrays Nadia as a secular woman who struggles with the expectations imposed by her religious mother. Their relationship, strained by years of difference and judgment, fractures when Nadia defies cultural norms—and is eventually disowned. When her mother reappears later in the novel, a quiet, unspoken understanding begins to take shape.
Equally compelling is Sara, one of the women in the deradicalization camp. Her storyline serves as a mirror to Nadia’s, particularly in the way both characters grapple with familial estrangement and differing views on religion. Their interactions offer some of the novel’s most poignant reflections on agency, belief, and the many forms that resistance can take.
What makes Fundamentally particularly striking is Yunis’s ability to explore weighty themes—faith, friendship, feminism, and radicalism—with an element of jest.
Fundamentally is a sharp, nuanced examination of what it means to build bridges—in diplomacy, in communities, and within us. Yunis doesn’t offer easy answers but instead allows her characters to wrestle with their own contradictions. This is a timely, courageous novel that confronts the personal within the political and leaves readers with much to ponder.
Nusaibah Yunis’s Fundamentally is a bold, deeply intelligent debut that navigates the fault lines between faith, family, and feminism in a global context.
At the centre of the story is Dr. Nadia Amin, a British lecturer in criminology, who is recovering from a painful breakup. When her article on deradicalization gains international attention, she’s offered a position by the United Nations to lead a rehabilitation program in Iraq for former ISIS brides—an initiative called UNDO. Although she accepts the role as a challenge, Nadia remains unsure of her own suitability for the task. What follows is an intricate journey through the layers of international bureaucracy, tribal politics, and moral complexity.
Nadia is a fascinatingly human protagonist—at times deeply self-assured, at other times plagued by self-doubt. Yunis captures this vacillation with subtlety, allowing readers to witness Nadia’s internal struggle as she tries to reconcile her professional responsibilities with her personal insecurities. This tension gives her character depth and emotional resonance.
Yunis also skilfully portrays Nadia as a secular woman who struggles with the expectations imposed by her religious mother. Their relationship, strained by years of difference and judgment, fractures when Nadia defies cultural norms—and is eventually disowned. When her mother reappears later in the novel, a quiet, unspoken understanding begins to take shape.
Equally compelling is Sara, one of the women in the deradicalization camp. Her storyline serves as a mirror to Nadia’s, particularly in the way both characters grapple with familial estrangement and differing views on religion. Their interactions offer some of the novel’s most poignant reflections on agency, belief, and the many forms that resistance can take.
What makes Fundamentally particularly striking is Yunis’s ability to explore weighty themes—faith, friendship, feminism, and radicalism—with an element of jest.
Fundamentally is a sharp, nuanced examination of what it means to build bridges—in diplomacy, in communities, and within us. Yunis doesn’t offer easy answers but instead allows her characters to wrestle with their own contradictions. This is a timely, courageous novel that confronts the personal within the political and leaves readers with much to ponder.