Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion

Reviews

A Most Anticipated Book (The Millions, Autostraddle, Lit Hub)

“Stellar…Deeply immersive…The scenes brim with the pluck and tumult of young friendship while also portraying the uneasy racial balance that the first-generation children navigate in 1980s Queens…A distinctive and infectious voice takes hold of the reader from the first page.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Rehman's storytelling shares the elliptical grace of poetry. Her deeply sensitive protagonist, Razia, comes into sharp-focus like a shaken photograph, and Queens rears off the page in all its glorious vibrancy and complexity. I loved every moment I spent in Razia's company. A stunning novel from a vital writer.”
—Karen Russell, author of Swamplandia! and Orange World

“Enchanting, smart, and keenly observed, Bushra Rehman’s Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion shows us the wiry exhilaration of a girl becoming a woman she didn’t know she could be.”
—Mira Jacob, author of Good Talk

“With a poet's sensibility for language, Bushra Rehman has created a tender and multi-layered story of young Muslim women navigating a complicated and racialized world. This novel will break your heart open.”
—Daisy Hernández, author of The Kissing Bug

“An unforgettable novel of almost luminous vitality, rich with the episodic texture of life, heavy with love for its characters, shining with beauty and pain. Rehman’s prose is a knife, and I would let her cut out my heart again and again.”
—Rufi Thorpe, author of The Knockout Queen

“Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion is a brave, beauty-filled book that takes you by the hand and into Razia’s world. This book made me nostalgic for Queens and reminded me to take care of the girl who still lives inside me. I love this lush, lovely book—it deepens our understanding of the human experience and is a fiercely beautiful and honest ode to all girls becoming women.”
—Ishle Yi Park, poet laureate of Queens and author of The Temperature of This Water and Angel & Hannah

“Endearing, irreverent, and engaging. Bushra Rehman writes through the insightfully humorous lens of a sharp second-generation, Queens-bred Desi New Yorker. In Razia, she has created a unique character that is daring, hilarious, vulnerable and fierce. You will want to keep traveling with her long after the book ends.”
—DJ Rekha