The Submission

Things I did like about the book: the conceit (a Muslim winning an anonymous design competition for the WTC memorial is met with resistance from the families of the victims as well as others who blame all of Islam for the attacks); the tension between the architect and just about everyone else; the portrayal of American bigotry toward Muslims. Things I did not like: the multiple points of view muddle the story; a few of the characters feel flat (the reporter, the brother of the dead fireman, the female leader of the bigots); the ending (an epilogue of sorts) feels tacked on, as if an editor had told the author that more resolution was needed.