Two Sisters by Asne Seierstad

 I picked up Two Sisters from a suggestion list in the Overdrive library catalog when I was searching for another book. I had always wondered how kids who grew up in Western societies get radicalized, threw away their privileges to the wind and went to wage jihad in an unknown country. This documented true story by Norwegian journalist-author Asne Seierstad is a window to the world of radicalization.

Somali-Norwegian teens Ayan and Leila are sisters, brought up in a Muslim refugee family in Oslo. They are Norwegian citizens and regular teenagers at the start of the book. As the story progresses, we see them getting interested, immersed and finally fully transforming into radical Islamists who leave the security and future of their home in Norway to the unpredictable war zone of Syria as potential brides for the jihadists. 

There is an entire section at the end of the book where the author lists her sources. The book is based on extensive interviews with the parents of the girls – Sadiq and Sara and their friends and with other detailed research into organizations, people, and related media material. Asne Sieerstad does state that she is relating her findings, but it up to each reader to draw their own conclusions. Unlike some of the books written by journalists I did not find the narration dry or technical, it was well written, paced well and was well-researched. 

A large part of the material came from the girls’ father, Sadiq, who made several excursions to the Syrian warzone to rescue the girls, but never succeeded. In stunning contrast to the decision made Ayan and Leila, Ismael, the girls’ brother (younger to Ayan, older than Leila) who had the same kind of upbringing chooses the exact opposite path. He distances himself from religion when he is old enough to stand his ground and at every opportunity tries to question his sisters and ask them to explain their deeds on the basis of Quran and tries to explain to them folly of their actions.  

The book didn’t give me the answers I was looking for – how on earth do these kids get radicalized? How could two kids in the same family with the same parents and upbringing choose radically different paths? But one thing it is helpful for, which was what the girl’s father and the author intended was for other parents to recognize the signs of radicalization in youngsters and nip it in the bud.