Zara Raheem is the author of “The Retreat,” which was just released April 2023.
She is from Los Angeles and of South Asian decent, which is evident in her passionate writing of the culture with beautiful details and intricacies that are portrayed in her characters. Her debut novel, “The Marriage Clock” was published in 2019 and was named by PopSugar as “one of the best books to put in your beach bag,” as well as a “must read book of the summer” by Cosmopolitan, Bustle, and Book Riot, among others. “The Marriage Clock” has been translated into Italian and Portuguese.
In addition, Raheem is the recipient of the James I. Murashige Jr. Memorial award in fiction and was selected as one of 2019’s Harriet Williams Emerging Writers.
I wanted to show how the manifestation of grief is complicated and can look differently for each person.
Her latest novel, “The Retreat,” follows Nadia Abbasi, a Muslim American woman, as she finds out her marriage is in turmoil after she finds some suspicious photos of her husband in his home office. This sets her off to find out what is really happening. She turns to her sister, Zeba, for advice, but first they have to overcome a challenge—their relationship, which has been estranged since their mom’s passing.
This story is just as much about Nadia and Zeba’s relationship as it about Nadia and her husband Aman’s relationship. It also touches upon undealt grief and the repercussions our childhood circumstances have on adult life.
Q&A
Where did the inspiration for this book come from?
The idea for “The Retreat” actually started with Nadia and Zeba’s story. I’ve always loved stories about sisterhood and sister relationships, and I really wanted to make that front and center in this book. I thought it would be interesting to explore how a relationship between two sisters, who had previously been close, could become fraught and distant because of a significant loss. I knew there needed to be a reason to pull them together, and Aman’s affair seemed like the perfect catalyst to force them to confront past issues and rebuild their relationship.
Can you share with us what your writing process is like? When is your favorite time of day and place to write?
My writing process is ever-changing! These days, I try and write anytime my toddler is asleep—so during naptime or after she goes down for the night. Although I enjoy early morning writing, I’m not quite willing to sacrifice those precious hours of sleep, which are rare to come by these days (thank you, sleep regressions!), so the bulk of my writing happens at night. My favorite place to write is in bed surrounded by pillows and cozy blankets.
Did you plan/outline the novel before writing (are you a plotter), or did you come up with ideas as you wrote (are you a pantser)? Or, are you a plantster—you do a little of both?
How long was the writing process for you from concept to publishing?
We loved the relationship between Nadia and Zeba. Are your characters based on real people?
I think it’s impossible to not be inspired in some way by your surroundings when writing a book whether it’s intentional or not. With Nadia and Zeba’s characters, there wasn’t any specific person who I modeled them after, but the strength, vulnerability, ambitions, and intuitiveness they possess is an amalgamation of the many incredible women in my life.
I enjoyed the nods to South Asian culture and the Muslim religion. There were quite a few times I found myself googling the translation or definition for many words throughout the book. I found that I learned a little bit about the culture from the glimpses shown in this book. How important was it for you to convey this culture and religion in your novel?
It was very important for these characters to feel like ‘real’ people. When you grow up in an immigrant household, so much of that experience filters into day-to-day life—your views of the world, the decisions you make, the ability to code-switch between languages and ideologies. To capture the authenticity of Nadia’s world, I intentionally left out translations, footnotes, or anything that might draw attention to culture and religion in a way that felt separate from her existence.
Nadia believes her mom is visiting her whenever she sees an animal figure throughout the story. As the writer, would you say those visits were her mom communicating with her or were they more of Nadia’s hopeful intention and imagination?
Women are faced with a greater pressure to “have it all,” and we see how Nadia’s efforts to maintain this illusion ultimately come at a cost.
I loved how Nadia started off in the novel as a pretty confident “girl boss.” However, as the story unfolds, we learn that much of her behavior was to accommodate and please her husband. I loved the depiction of Nadia coming into her own by the end of the novel and learning who she really is as she learns how to stand up for her true wants—like not hiding the junk food she craves. Can you share a little bit more about what this character means for you and how she grew as a person throughout the novel?
I think anyone who’s ever felt compelled to live up to other people’s expectations can relate to Nadia’s character. Women are faced with a greater pressure to “have it all,” and we see how Nadia’s efforts to maintain this illusion ultimately come at a cost. Hers is a story that I think will resonate with a lot of women, myself included, so it felt especially important to end her journey on a note of empowerment and hope for anyone who might recognize a part of themselves in her.
Why did you decide to title this book “The Retreat” when the retreat doesn’t happen until the ending of the book for a few chapters?
After reading this novel, we want to go on a Wellness Retreat ourselves! Have you ever been to a wellness retreat?
What advice would you give other writers or those looking to write a book with no prior book writing experience?
What do you do when you have writer’s block?
What are you reading now?
Is novel writing your full-time career or do you do something else, if so, what?
Are you currently working on another novel? If so, can you tell us anything about it yet? Do you want to publish more books?
If you want to follow Zara Raheem, you can check her out on Instagram at @za_ra.heem or check out her website at zararaheem.com.
Raheem is currently working on a short story collection that centers around the South Asian diaspora, the Muslim-American experience, and the struggles and hardships faced by first and second-generation immigrants.
If you want to read our full review of “The Retreat,” click here.
