Brothers in Service
Reading Group Guide · Ten questions · Contains spoilers
On September 11, 2001, Omar Bakari walked out of the World Trade Center covered in ash and came home to New Jersey. His twin sons answered the years that followed in opposite ways — Ali with the Constitution, Adam with a uniform — until something happened in Iraq that neither brother could speak of, and a family built on service went silent for eighteen years. Now, in 2026, Omar’s grandson Elias begins asking the questions no one will answer.
Discussion Questions
- At the beginning, were you more sympathetic to Ali or Adam? Did your allegiance change by the end?
- Both brothers believe they are serving their country. Is one brother’s idea of service more admirable than the other’s?
- How should readers judge Adam’s actions during his deployment? What is the difference between explaining a terrible decision and excusing it?
- Did either brother’s commitment to his own beliefs prevent him from understanding the other?
- Who suffered most from the family’s silence? Was keeping the truth buried ever justified?
- Salma often tries to hold the family together. When is keeping the peace an act of strength, and when might it prolong harm?
- Why does it take Elias, a member of the next generation, to ask questions the family has avoided?
- By the end, what does patriotism mean? Did the novel change your understanding of what it means to serve your country?
- Which was your favorite character, and why?
- What did the book tell you about society, and what would you want to change about society after reading it?
Optional closing conversation
Which scene, relationship, or moral dilemma has stayed with you the longest—and why?
Some themes may connect to difficult personal experiences. Participants are welcome to pass on any question.
The Name She Carries
Reading Group Guide · Ten questions · Publishes November 10, 2026
Aisha Reynolds walked into an emergency room with severe pain and walked out with four words typed into her chart. What happened next becomes the case of a lifetime — passed from a legend of the courtroom to his daughter, Mary Adel, who must stand up to the hospital’s lawyers, her own firm, and the quiet machinery that decides whose pain gets believed. A novel about truth, bias, inheritance — and the difference between carrying a name and earning it.
Discussion Questions
- Did Mary Adel earn her place in the courtroom, or was she always destined to inherit it?
- Who bears the greatest responsibility for what happened to Aisha Reynolds: the people who treated her, the hospital that employed them, or a healthcare system that allowed it to happen?
- If you were Mary, would you have accepted the case from her father? Why or why not?
- Which character surprised you most? Did your opinion of anyone change dramatically as the story unfolded?
- Is justice necessarily the same thing as winning a lawsuit? Did the legal outcome deliver the justice the characters needed?
- How much of Mary’s determination comes from her commitment to Aisha, and how much from wanting to prove herself worthy of her father’s name? Does that distinction matter?
- If you could change one decision made by a major character, which would it be? How might that change the story?
- At the end of the novel, what does the title The Name She Carries mean to you? Does it refer only to Mary, or to other characters as well?
- Which was your favorite character, and why?
- What did the book tell you about society, and what would you want to change about society after reading it?
Optional closing conversation
Which scene, relationship, or moral dilemma has stayed with you the longest—and why?
Some themes may connect to difficult personal experiences. Participants are welcome to pass on any question.
Invite the Author
A.M. Soliman joins book clubs by video — any club, anywhere, no charge. He is a practising New Jersey trial attorney; on September 11, 2001 he was a working newspaper reporter, and he later wrote a column for The Record and produced the PBS documentary Born in the USA: Muslim Americans. Clubs reading either novel are welcome.
To schedule: ahmed@amsoliman.com