Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis audiobook review – a sharp comedy about Islamic State brides
Shortlisted for this year's Women's prize for fiction, Fundamentally is the smart and acerbic debut novel from Nussaibah Younis featuring a hilarious heroine who, noting the absence of burned-out cars and bullet holes at her destination, notes: 'It's not like I was expecting Stalingrad but Baghdad took the piss … Why was it so … nice?' Yet it also offers more serious commentary on the creaking bureaucracy of humanitarian missions that are meant to be about solving problems rather than creating them.
Told in the first person, the book is read by Sarah Slimani whose pacing is on point. Her Nadia pinballs between brash, unfiltered confidence and crushing self-doubt. When she meets Sara, who left London to join IS at 15 and has been disowned by her parents, the two form an unsteady bond. Each must put aside their preconceptions about the other – Nadia initially sees Sara as an ungrateful refugee while Sara tells Nadia she is a 'slag with a saviour complex' – though they soon discover they have more in common than they thought.
Available via Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 9hr 41min
The House of DoorsTan Twan Eng, WF Howes, 11hr 15minThis reimagining of the writer W Somerset Maugham's time in Malaysia is read by David Oakes and Louise Mai-Newberry
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MollyBlake Butler, Audible Studios, 10hr 22minButler narrates his raw and exposing memoir about the suicide of his wife and what he learned about her after her death.
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Metro
7 minutes ago
- Metro
'I was in love with an incarcerated man - now he's my Edinburgh Fringe show'
Laurie Magers is laughing off the two years she spent in love with a man in prison for assault with a deadly weapon – because if she can't joke about it, then it's deeply uncomfortable to talk about. Now 33, the US comedian and TV writer behind shows such as Obliterated and CBS Showcase 2023,is looking back on this unusual turn in her early 20s in the form of an Edinburgh Fringe show. 'When I tell this story to people and do the show, I have trouble sometimes believing that this stuff happened to me,' Laurie admits, speaking to Metro over Zoom from an Edinburgh apartment. Laurie was just 23 when she met Bill (not his real name), who was also in his early 20s, while he was on parole from prison, ankle monitor in tow. After meeting on dating app Plenty of Fish – lol, Laurie reflects – they met up at his house because he wasn't allowed out past his 9pm curfew. 'On the first date I wanted to be really cool so I brought a giant bong over to his house to smoke weed,' Laurie recalls. 'I asked what the crime was and to see his ankle monitor. Assault with a deadly weapon should have scared me off, but it didn't.' They immediately had sex, and for the next two years, the rest was history. 'It wasn't the intriguing badboy thing. I was just very desperate for love and relationships and attention,' she says, adding: 'If anybody was into me, I was into them. It could have been anyone, and it was. He could have been a bad guy, and he was.' Laurie was with Bill for four months while he was on parole, until he got locked up again for a previous charge. When she found out it was a sexual offence, she stayed with him still. 'I had such a strong need to be with somebody that I was willing to accept that about him and explain it away. I believed all of his excuses, and I stayed with him. Now as an adult, I can't believe I did that.' Bill was locked up for six years and Laurie said she would wait for him. But after two years of phone sex, love letters, and visits through glass every weekend, she left him – it had 'fizzled' out. It was also an abusive relationship. 'We had a cute relationship, but he also cheated on me and body shamed me and a lot of other things,' Laurie reflects. 'Looking back at it, it was absolutely an abusive relationship, but at the time, I was really in love with him and just ignoring all of these things,' she says. Bill wanted Laurie to lose weight and made her join a gym. She's bisexual, so they would check women out together. He would point at women smaller than her and say: 'That's what you should look like.' 'There were also some maybe not-so-isolated incidents where there was some physical roughness during sex that was outside of my comfort zone. The consent was foggy,' Laurie says. 'My goal is to give the audience the same emotional whiplash that I felt during the relationship,' she explains. 'Comedy and traumatic dark stuff, they're just so close together,' Laurie says, adding: 'The stuff I did was silly. You have to laugh about it or it will be uncomfortable.' When he was locked up, Bill was the best boyfriend in the world. He was also bored, and Laurie was useful. Laurie once even thought very seriously about smuggling him drugs into prison in her vagina. She would also do things on the outside to sweeten his relationship with powerful inmates, like hand cash around and send messages to their associates. It's an exposing and personal piece of theatre – it's also political, about the US prison system and corruption – but Laurie isn't worried about sharing her story with her audience. 'The part I'm scared of is – in the best case scenario, where everybody in the world sees this – is him finding out about it. That's a little scary to me in the back of my head. But I like telling the story,' she says. How does this experience sit with Laurie after 10 years? 'It was a bad idea, but I don't regret it,' Laurie says, making the point that she got a good story out of it. 'It didn't trauma damage me to the point of no return.' It did, however, contribute to Laurie's insecurities about her body, her lovability, and her ability to trust. While Laurie doesn't really seem fazed throughout our interview, she turns solemn when talking about the good friends looking out for her she lost along the way. More Trending 'I honestly think maybe parts of how bad it was haven't really hit me yet,' she says, explaining: 'I think about it as a story now more than an experience. 'I almost look at it like it happened to someone else. Like, there's a step removed. 'Maybe over the course of this month, those two things will come together, and that would be kind of beautiful.' Do You Accept These Charges? is airing every day at the Edinburgh Fringe in August at Pleasance Courtyard Below at 15.10. Tickets here. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Comedy that made critics 'laugh until it hurts' earns surprise 91% on Rotten Tomatoes MORE: 'I was in Amazon Prime's biggest surprise hit – now you can watch me in a hotel room' MORE: Nostalgic film sequel breaks records on Netflix with 46,700,000 views
Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Daily Mirror
Five sports films that deserve a reboot now that Bend It Like Beckham 2 is in the works
It's been over 20 years since Bend it like Beckham hit our screens and with a sequel now confirmed, we've looked into five more films that fans are crying out for the same treatment. It's official - Bend It Like Beckham is getting a sequel. The news dropped after the Women's Euro final, with director Gurinder Chadha saying the time is finally right. She praised the Lionesses' incredible win and said she's ready to bring back the story that's meant so much to so many. First released in 2002, the film has remained a household favourite and the reboot is set to land in 2027, to mark its 25th anniversary and the FIFA Women's World Cup in Brazil. it comes after Chloe Kelly's husband was left speechless as Lionesses hero sends him a telling message. But while that one's in motion, here are five other sports films that deserve the same treatment. Love & Basketball (2000) This classic turned 25 this year, but it still continues to draw viewers in. Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, the film's aim was to make a 'When Harry Met Sally' but a Black love version. We follow Monica and Q from childhood rivals to college ballers and eventually pros, all while navigating love, ambition, and everything in between. But fans have been asking the same thing for years, did their daughter ever make it to the WNBA like her mum? And how did Monica and Q's relationship really play out after the credits rolled? For more stories like this subscribe to our weekly newsletter, The Weekly Gulp, for a curated roundup of trending stories, poignant interviews, and viral lifestyle picks from The Mirror's Audience U35 team delivered straight to your inbox. Save the Last Dance (2001) Technically there is a sequel but Save the Last Dance 2 didn't have the original cast and essentially was a spin off, rather than a sequel - leaving us left with the same burning questions. We all want to know did Sara and Sean make it work long-term? Did Sara become the professional dancer she dreamed of being? And if a third sequel happens, we will have the answers and another steamy love film. Blue Crush (2002) This one was all about sisterhood, surfing, and defying expectations but also navigating love, money struggles and chasing big dreams. It had grit, but the male gaze kind of overshadowed the female empowerment angle, and a spin-off could change that. But beyond ruling out the male gaze, there are still questions that haven't been answered. Did Anne Marie's dream of her little sister Penny quitting smoking and going to college happen? Did Leena ever stop living through Anne Marie? Just Wright (2010) This film was released later than the others, however it was the perfect blend of love and sports as we saw physical therapist, Leslie Wright fall in love with a professional basketball player, Scott McKnight. It was a beautiful love story, but slightly rocky at the start but in the end we saw Leslie and Scott were finally married - but we need to know more, are they still together? Wimbledon (2004) This romcom doesn't get enough credit. It was sweet, served soft laughs , and showed the soft side of sport. The original followed a fading British player who falls in love with an American tennis star but in all honesty, it barely scratched the surface of the sport's real pressures and a second movie would do just that. But while we wait in the hope of these movies releasing a sequel, we know for certain Bend it like Beckham is coming back. Help us improve our content by completing the survey below. We'd love to hear from you!
The Guardian
4 days ago
- The Guardian
Christopher Nolan criticised for filming in occupied Western Sahara city
The organisers of the Western Sahara international film festival (FiSahara) have criticised Christopher Nolan for shooting part of his adaptation of the Odyssey in a Western Saharan city that has been under Moroccan occupation for 50 years, warning the move could serve to normalise decades of repression. The British-American film-maker's take on Homer's epic, which stars Matt Damon, Charlize Theron, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong'o and Anne Hathaway, is due to be released on 17 July 2026. According to the Hollywood studio Universal, which is backing the project, the film will be 'a mythic action epic shot across the world' made 'using brand new Imax film technology'. But the decision to film in the Western Saharan coastal city of Dakhla has provoked fierce criticism from Sahrawi activists and those who were forced to live under occupation or to go into exile after Morocco annexed the country following the withdrawal of its former colonial power, Spain, in 1976. The UN classifies Western Sahara as a 'non-self-governing territory'. In a report last year, the UN secretary-general noted that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) had not been granted access to the territory since 2015, adding that OHCHR 'continued to receive allegations relating to human rights violations, including intimidation, surveillance and discrimination against Sahrawi individuals particularly when advocating for self-determination'. In its most recent country report, Amnesty International said that the 'authorities continued to restrict dissent and the rights to freedom of association and peaceful assembly in Western Sahara'. Reporters Without Borders has described Western Sahara as a 'desert for journalists' and said that 'torture, arrests, physical abuse, persecution, intimidation, harassment, slander, defamation, technological sabotage, and lengthy prison sentences are daily fare for Sahrawi journalists'. Last month the UK suggested it supported a proposal for Western Sahara to remain under Rabat's sovereignty but with a degree of self-rule. FiSahara's organisers say the recent presence of Nolan's high-profile cast and crew in Dakhla will help whitewash the Moroccan occupation and normalise the repression. The festival's directors said that while Dakhla was 'a beautiful location with cinematic sand dunes', it was, 'first and foremost … an occupied and militarised city whose indigenous Sahrawi population is subjected to brutal repression' by Moroccan occupation forces. 'By filming part of The Odyssey in an occupied territory … Nolan and his team, perhaps unknowingly and unwittingly, are contributing to Morocco's repression of the Sahrawi people and to the Moroccan regime's efforts to normalise its occupation of Western Sahara,' said María Carrión, the festival's executive director. 'We are sure that if they understood the full implications of filming a high-profile film in a territory whose Indigenous peoples cannot make their own films about their stories under occupation, Nolan and his team would be horrified.' FiSahara said it was calling on Nolan and his crew and cast to 'stand in solidarity with the Sahrawi people who have been under military occupation for 50 years and who are routinely imprisoned and tortured for their peaceful struggle for self-determination'. Carrión said Morocco was keen to control how its occupation was perceived abroad, and used tourism and culture to project a distorted view of life in Western Sahara. 'Morocco only allows entry into occupied Western Sahara to those who fit its strategy of selling its occupation to the outside world,' she said. 'Tourists who go to Moroccan-built and -owned resorts to practise kitesurfing, companies willing to participate in its plundering of natural resources, journalists willing to toe its line, and high-profile visitors like Nolan and his team who help Morocco sell the narrative that Western Sahara is part of Morocco and that the Sahrawis are content to live under its rule are given the red carpet treatment.' But she said Amnesty International, the UN commissioner for human rights, and 'the hundreds of journalists and observers who have been barred or deported from the territory' would tell 'a very different story'. The Guardian has contacted Nolan's representatives for a response, but the director has yet to comment. FiSahara, which was founded in 2004, is held in Sahrawi refugee camps in the Algerian desert. Labelled 'the Cannes of the desert', it aims to use film to 'entertain, convey knowledge and empower refugees from the Western Sahara'.
