A really wonderful, important memoir. Samra Habib's family fled Pakistan due to religious persecution and moved to Canada when she was a child. Growing up, Samra overcame racism, feelings of isolation and an arranged marriage in her teens to finally embrace herself as a feminist, queer Muslim. It's so rare to get depictions of religion and culture and queerness reconciling so I really appreciated this book. Habib is really honest about the less pleasant aspects of her life such as her two marriages before she came out. Gorgeously written, and short enough to leave me wanting more.

Samra Habib is many things: photographer, journalist, activist, writer, queer woman, Muslim, refugee, and now – with the publication of her memoir – the author of a book. The saying may be ‘Jack of all trades, master of none’, but I think she has done a pretty masterful job here!

I was already familiar with Habib (as you may also be) from her existing body of work. She runs ‘Just Me and Allah: A Queer Muslim Project’ on Tumblr, where she shares the photo portraits and stories of other queer Muslims, and writes for various media outlets such as the New York Times, Guardian, and Vice. She has a strong voice and is always interesting, thought-provoking, and creative with it – so I was naturally excited to read her memoir and learn more about what experiences have shaped her perspective.

We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir follows Habib’s life, starting with a childhood in Pakistan where her family faced persecution as Ahmadiyya Muslims, followed by immigration to Canada, an unwanted arranged marriage at the age of sixteen, and then finding both her identity as a queer woman and her calling as a documenter of queer Muslim experiences.

As I already said, one of Habib’s writing strengths is her voice. I always enjoy reading her articles, so I was curious to see how much a full-length book would differ from her journalism. The answer is “not much”!

She continues to write with a conversational, confessional style. Reading the memoir is like reading a really long feature article (think the Guardian’s ‘long reads’). Luckily, this is a good thing: it’s what Habib is good at. I was engaged the whole way through, enjoying both the personal aspects and the more factual bits focusing on history and culture.

That said, I did feel like there could have been a little more of the personal, as sometimes the narrative felt like it had gaps. For example, Habib’s siblings fade in and out and barely feature as characters, which feels strange in a work that talks so much about family life. But this is a memoir rather than an autobiography, so it could just be a quirk of the genre.

For me, the memoir gets to be most interesting when Habib starts to talk about her photo project. It’s compelling to hear about how it got started. Habib explains that she wanted to see Muslims represented in queer spaces, and in an accessible way that doesn’t block people with a language barrier or academic jargon.

I was also fascinated to hear more about how people like Habib and her subjects reconcile faith with their queer identities. I have read a fair deal about LGBT followers of Christianity and Judaism, but I haven’t come across much about Islam. One of the stand-out sections is Habib’s description of attending prayers at Unity Mosque, an LGBT-friendly mosque run by a gay imam. After spending so much of the memoir seeking belonging, it’s delightful to read about Habib finally feeling part of a community.

The title We Have Always Been Here is actually taken from a quote from one of Habib’s subjects, Zainab. It’s a powerful statement about asserting the right to a shared community, history, and voice for queer Muslims. But I don’t know if it’s the right title for this memoir. Going into it, I was expecting more on the history of queer Muslims, whereas the memoir is focused entirely on contemporary experience. I don’t dislike this focus, but it wasn’t what I was expecting from the title.

Still, I see why Habib wanted to use a quote taken from her photo project. This memoir is a natural extension of her existing body of work: yet another way in which she asserts that queer Muslims exist – indeed, have always existed – and deserve to have their stories heard.

Trigger warnings: CSA, abuse, arranged child marriage, attempted suicide

This was a moving and honest memoir that shone a light on the difficulties of race and sexuality even in the modern day. I particular enjoyed the final chapter regarding Trump's presidency, which I think would stick with a lot of people. Recommended!

We have always been here is a powerful and moving memoir. It gives an insight into what it’s like to be queer and religious as well as having to fight against your family and their beliefs. It’s an important read for anyone who has ever felt alone and even if you don’t struggle with the same issues that Samra has faced I definitely recommend giving it a read. It’s a short read and it does jump around a bit but it is truly insightful.

I received a copy of the ebook via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Book Review:- We have Always Been Here by Samra Habib Published by @riverrun_books @quercusbooks.
.
🌈
Here is a book that leaves no stone unturned. It has no censorship on it. What you see is what is really happening.
.
🌈
Samra takes you a journey of her very traditional Pakistan up bringing during the time of the religious tension within the country. .
🌈
Her parents are very strict on who she mixes with- her father has worked extremely hard to raise the family’s social status within the community.
.
🌈
Due to the continuing unrest within the country. The family very reluctantly decided to move to Canada - however her father stays in Pakistan and will follow on a later date.
.
🌈
They move in with Samra auntie and cousins. It’s a daunting move as no-one within her close family can speak very good English. Her cousin Nashir can since he has been in Canada longer.
.
🌈
Later on Samra finds out through a note left to her by her cousin Nashir that her parents has already made plans for her to marry him when she turns 18. All the is is organised while she is still only 13 years old.
.
🌈
You are taken on a voyage of Samra discovery where not only does she find out about life but also finds out and discovers a lot about herself.
.
🌈
There is so much more that I could add to this review but I want you to pick this book read it and take in this story of discovery.
.
🌈
I found the writing style really interesting and well written. It is a short book (about 220 pages) but I don’t feel that anything has been left out.
.
🌈
A beautiful put together piece of writing.
Thank you @quercusbooks for gifting me a copy.

#wealwaysbeenhere #samrahabib #booklover #bookcommunity #bookstagrammer #bookobsession #bookaddicted #bookrecommendations #bookreviews #bookreadersofinstagram #readinglover #readerofinstagram #reading📖 #lovetoread #fortheloveofreading #literatureisbeauty #tylwythtegyllyfr

We Have Always Been Here is a thought-provoking, heartfelt and direct memoir which traces the author's life from her childhood in Pakistan, emigration to Canada and teenage arranged marriage, through to her blossoming as a queer Muslim photographer and activist. Rather than following a completely conventional narrative, Samra instead jumps the reader between the transformational experiences of her life; ten minutes are sometimes imbued with more time and meaning than ten decades. This method is generally successful, although occasionally what appear to be major relationships and times are skipped over and I felt slightly cheated as a reader. I would have appreciated a longer and richer book, and was left wanting more! That said, there is also strength in the selectivity of what is included in that it all contributes to the narrative of Samra's path, which while difficult is also threaded with real moments of joy and discovery, particularly in the latter half. The first half of the memoir sets the bedrock to understand the author but in the second half is where she opens up and offers real moments of wisdom, clarity, and insight; as with all the best memoirs the author invites the reader into their shoes, gently promoting their perspective on the world - and this is a vital perspective for the world to hear and understand. Overall, I found We Have Always Been Here not merely enjoyable to read, but also truly insightful. I look forward to everything the author does next.

When I started this book I was in a sort of "I don't know why I requested this ARC" mood. This mood lasted exactly two pages because I was hooked.
It's a powerful, moving, and engrossing memoir, full of food for thought.
Samra Habib can surely write and write in a way that makes you root for her and feel that hardness and the difficulties.
I love this book as it made me look at different lifestyle and cultures with the eyes of someone who lived that lifestyle and is part of that culture.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to Quercus Books and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

An honest raw uplifting story of Santa Habib's life as she proudly says as a proud queer Muslim .We follow her journey from Pakistan to Canada with her family.Her coming out finding her life’s direction.An eye opening wonderful read.a book I will be recommending.#netgalley#Quercusbook

I’ll be honest I have really fallen for this book and have already decide to buy myself a physical copy for Christmas as I read this as an eBook. I would recommend this book to all. There is something about the ups and downs of Samra’s life story that I found really comforting as I’m sure it would be for anyone who has ever struggled to find their identity and own it. We Have Always Been Here is a memoir that shows the importance of finding the value of your own identity.

"We have always been here" is an honest recollection of Habib's life through which she offers herself as an example of being a queer Muslim and her journey towards acceptance and becoming a truly confident woman claiming her multifaceted identity with joy and prid. The didactic and, at times, slightly privileged tone, though, is palpable, making this memoir read more like a love letter to herself rather than an encouragement to the reader to be their truest selves despite the obstacles. That being said I'm glad she's sharing her story and having her voice heard in these times where fear and stereotypes rule others' perceptions.

The first part of this book was really good, with Samra outlining the details of her early life, the family's move to Canada and her childhood. After that it could have done with a better editor. it starts to jump from story to story, rather than have a cohesive narrative, and some of the stories have other stories in the middle of them. My biggest issue was that Samra is always telling the reader that she was estranged from her parents, but the bits she shows don't demonstrate that. So while I have no doubt she was, it doens't feel consistent. There are a few other odd inconsistencies, but the part that should have been edited was the confusing, odd, dream sequence near the end. The book changes tone completely and disorientating a couple of times.

I was left feeling that Samra has something important to say, but that she hasn't fully realised it in this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Viking publishers for the e-Arc in exchange for an honest review.

We Have Always Been Here is a powerful queer Muslim memoir about sexuality, religion, and finding your place. Samra Habib charts her life from growing up in Pakistan as part of a threatened sect of Islam, coming to Canada as a refugee and not fitting in at school, and then ending up in and escaping an arranged marriage at sixteen. From there, she writes about how she started to come to terms with her queer identity, found new friends and places to travel, and started a project to take photographs of other queer Muslims to be more visible.

This is an important book that gives an insight into what it is like to not only be Muslim and work out your sexuality, but also to learn to fight against your family when what they want for you isn't what you want and how to find your own ways to adapt in different cultures and countries. Love—familial, romantic, between friends—is a constant theme, and so is human connection in various ways, especially the people who directly or indirectly influence someone for the better. We Have Always Been Here is a short, readable memoir, one that people should pick up whether Habib's experiences overlap with theirs in any way or not. It is a statement about being yourself and considering how your own identities coexist and affect your life.