The Convert:

The book under review is a biography of Margaret Marcus who became Maryam Jameelah after converting from Judaism to Islam in 1962. It is written by an experienced author who has to her credit a number of books including In Extremism: The Life of Laura Riding and A Blue Hand: The Beats in India. The book is written in a lively style, recounting the astonishing and mind-gripping story of Margaret Marcus’ conversion to Islam and then her emigration to Lahore, Pakistan, in pursuit of a life as a Muslim according to the teachings of Islam. This biography is based on Maryam Jameelah’s letters to her parents and Mawlana Abu’l-A[la Mawdudi (d. 1979), her personal diaries as well as on Deborah Baker’s interviews with Maryam and other individuals who were involved with her directly or indirectly. Deborah Baker came across a cache of Maryam’s letters and diaries accidentally in the archives of the New York Public Library. This reviewer wonders why the author felt compelled to use the term ‘extremism’ in the title of the book. It seems that in the author’s view Maryam Jameelah’s dislike of the Western way of life and of her parents’ blind support of the state of Israel and her subsequent conversion to Islam amounts to an acceptance of an extremist’s way of life.