This novel is, at its core, about Islamophobia and what it’s like to live in America post 9/11.
If someone told me that all of this had transpired in real life, that Mafi had plucked the entire thing completely out of reality, that would not surprise me in the slightest. From the plot to the characters and the voice and the setting. Everything about A Very Large Expanse of Sea is palpable and realistic.
Tahereh Mafi has said that this is the most autobiographical novel she has written and this shows in the best way possible. But Shirin and Ocean come from two completely different worlds, and she doesn’t know if she’s ready to let her walls down. He seems to actually want to know Shirin, not make judgements based on her appearance and religion. Then, she meets Ocean, who seems different from everyone else. So she’s built up walls around herself and is just counting down the days until high school is over.
She’s almost used to the Islamophobia – to being stereotyped and insulted, and even being attacked. In 2002, just a year after 9/11, Shirin is a 16-year-old Muslim girl who wears the hijab.
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