A suspenseful novel that reflects on the modern Muslim experience

When Leila Aboulela was growing up in Khartoum, Sudan, her mind was on the Minnesota prairie. She had never been there — and still hasn't, decades later — but she traveled the frontier with Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Little House" series.

It was one of her first experiences with literature and its power to transport readers to new worlds.

Now, Aboulela is a novelist in her own right, following a career switch she calls "a great adventure."

Writing was her second calling — her first was statistics. It wasn't until after she had moved from Sudan to Scotland as a statistics professor that she found the drive to write. Homesick for Sudan, she thought, "Maybe I should just try to write about my feelings and difficulties settling in."

Five books later, she has found a place on the New York Times 100 Notable Books of the Year list and as the winner of the first Caine Prize for African Writing.

Her latest book, "The Kindness of Enemies," jumps between modern Scotland and nineteenth century Russia. It follows a half-Russian, half-Sudanese professor as she researches the life of a Muslim leader who led an anti-Russian resistance more than a century before.

For Aboulela, writing about religion in fiction lets her sculpt a more complete, personal view of life as a Muslim.

"With nonfiction, I find that there's a lot of defensiveness, a lot of explanation. People are explaining Islam to non-Muslims," she told MPR News host Kerri Miller. "With fiction, it doesn't have to be like that, you're just starting from a character and their dilemmas, and it's got a kind of organic feel to it."

To hear the full discussion with author Leila Aboulela about "The Kindness of Enemies," use the audio player above.

The Kindness of Enemies The Kindness of Enemies