“Ramiza Shamoun Koya’s The Royal Abduls is filled with wonderfully flawed, yet deeply sympathetic characters who occupy utterly convincing and beautifully drawn narrative and emotional situations. Is independence freedom or isolation? How can we balance our own needs with those of our loved ones? How can we both protect ourselves and connect with others? Koya’s novel reminds us that the answers to these questions are, of course, both deeply personal and deeply political, and in answering them, Koya performs the marvelous alchemy of dropping us into a story world that dismantles and then reassembles our sense of who we are.”

—Karen Shepard, author of The Celestials

“The Royal Abduls is a novel for our times. It is a novel of struggle and a reminder of the hope that we once felt and that, hopefully, we will feel again soon.”

—Carol Zoref, author of Barren Island

“Ramiza Shamoun Koya’s debut novel is a beauty. The Royal Abduls tackles the complex and complicated lives of Indian-Americans post Sept. 11th with grace and tenderness and humor. I was absorbed by the family stories, the political climate of America in the years just after the attacks, the deft way in which mixed-race Americans are often treated and the tug and pull between the main character Amina Abdul and her nephew Omar. I can’t wait for the release of this stunning novel—readers have a huge treat awaiting them.”

—Devi S. Laskar, author of The Atlas of Reds and Blues

"Koya imbues each page of The Royal Abduls with lessons of the heart and what it means to save yourself while protecting the ones you love."

—Mo Daviau, author of Every Anxious Wave

"Ramiza Shamoun Koya’s novel The Royal Abduls brought my heart back from the brink of despair through the story of an Indian-American family refusing to come apart in the face of a country pushing them into pieces. In particular the journey of evolutionary biologist Amina and her nephew Omar as they explore identity, love, anger and empathy in a post-9/11 landscape reflects the reader’s own tensions and contradictions back to us asking, will we evolve or devolve? How do we rebuild love in the face of warring impulses? Who do we want to become in this moment of difficulty? The Royal Abduls is stunningly hopeful."

—Lidia Yuknavitch, author of Chronology of Water

“I loved this subtle, smart, skillful book, and I closed the last page feeling hopeful that Amina, her family, and her friends, and in truth, all of us in America today, will find our way to a stable hybrid zone, no one group swamped out by the other, but each living a true life."

— Amber J. Keyser, author of No More Excuses: Dismantling Rape Culture

“Amina Abdul is a biologist studying the elusive hybrid zone, areas where differing species can mate and have viable offspring. A perfect metaphor for her American family with Muslim East Indian heritage facing post-9/11 hatred, desperately braving connection with each other and community. And while these major motifs guide the story, the magic of Shamoun Koya’s novel are the familiar and universal voices of the relocating Amina and her now neighboring brother’s family. Told in part by Amina and in part by her adolescent nephew Omar we are invited into the inner workings of a struggling American family and to see ourselves on every page. This is a wonderful story with great depth and thoughtfulness. I loved it! "

—Kim Bissell, Broadway Books

“This is about being a human being in a world that doesn't accept humans easily. Amina and Omar are so fully fleshed out. You can't help but feel intensely for them. I will absolutely carry this book in my store and promote it.”

—Kyle Page, owner, Lake City Books and Writers Nook

“The Royal Abduls is a powerful novel; I was swept up by Amina's life and her nephew Omar's struggles. The friction between isolation and connection that Koya presents so realistically in every character is rare to find, and left me both bereft and hopeful.”

—Ruby Meyers, Annie Bloom’s Books