First Comes Marriage, Huda AlMarashi
First Comes Marriage, Huda AlMarashi
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First Comes Marriage
My Not-So-Typical American Love Story

Author: Huda Al-Marashi

Narrator: Jeed Saddy

Unabridged: 9 hr 37 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 11/13/2018


Synopsis

When Huda meets Hadi, the boy she will ultimately marry, she is six years old. Both are the American-born children of Iraqi immigrants, who grew up on opposite ends of California.

Hadi considers Huda his childhood sweetheart, the first and only girl he's ever loved, but Huda needs proof that she is more than just the girl Hadi's mother has chosen for her son. She wants what the American girls have—the entertainment culture's almost singular tale of chance meetings, defying the odds, and falling in love. She wants stolen kisses, romantic dates, and a surprise proposal. As long as she has a grand love story, Huda believes no one will question if her marriage has been arranged.

But when Huda and Hadi's conservative Muslim families forbid them to go out alone before their wedding, Huda must navigate her way through the despair of unmet expectations and dashed happily-ever-after ideals. Eventually she comes to understand the toll of straddling two cultures in a marriage and the importance of reconciling what you dreamed of with the life you eventually live.

Tender, honest, and irresistibly compelling, First Comes Marriage is the first Muslim-American memoir dedicated to the themes of love and sexuality.

About Huda Al-Marashi

Huda Al-Marashi currently lives in Encinitas, California, with her husband and three children. Her writing has appeared in the Washington Post, the LA Times, Al Jazeera, the VIDA Review, the Offing, and elsewhere.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Kate on June 29, 2019

Reprint of 1991, G-rated, short, contemporary, romantic-comedy novel Janine is the 20-something granddaughter of a very wealthy man and, as such, has chosen not to have a career. She believes if she were to hold down a job, she would be taking away work from someone who actually needs the money. Inst......more

Goodreads review by Mary on January 04, 2017

This was a quick, easy read that provided humor and escape. I enjoyed it.......more

Goodreads review by Nadine on June 28, 2016

"Financial and practical advantages! You make it sound about as appealing as a dentist appointment. There's got to be more of a reason than that for us to get married." It was her grandfather's idea, the whole notion of a marriage between Janine and Zach. An arranged marriage, at that. But the two of......more

Goodreads review by Ashley on October 08, 2013

I thought this was a great story. Some of the schemes the grandfather came up to get Zach and Janine together were hilarious. I can totally relate to this story because when my grandmother found out she had alzheimers disease she was determined to marry me off. I couldn't go anywhere because is she......more

Goodreads review by Debbie on February 27, 2016

I'm a fan of Debbie MaComber, and this book of hers just confirmed my great opinion if her. It's not part of a series, which is nice. I get tired of the small town series, since our library doesn't usually have all the books in one series..people check them out but don't return them. I enjoyed this......more