Meet the Cast
Leila Ahmed
Forget SafetyWhen Ahmed talks about visiting her "house of memory," it sounds great—like hanging out with a lovely old lady who smells like cookie dough and gives you cozy grandma hugs. And it is...
Father (Abdel Aziz)
Utterly SimpaticoWe hate to describe a woman as totally kick-butt as Leila Ahmed—you know, the first professor of women's studies in religion at Harvard Divinity School and the author of four mas...
Mother (Ikbal)
It's ComplicatedThere's never a moment when Ahmed feels 100 percent okay about her mom. And not just for the normal mom-daughter reasons—she's not miffed because her mom tells her that her hair l...
Nanny (Clothilde)
A Woman of PrincipleAhmed makes no bones about her love for her nanny: after all, she spends her childhood terrified that Nanny would die. This is normal, sure…but Ahmed seems more concerned abou...
Grandmother
A Woman of GraceIn all of Ahmed's memories of people and things past, Grandmother is the closest thing to an angel. She doesn't have wings or work as a model for Victoria's Secret. But she does exu...
Grandfather
The ManGrandfather is the Lord of Zatoun (okay, we made up that title), but he seems to have very little impact on the lives of everyone there. That's partly because he's never around; he's usually...
The Aunts (Aida, Aisha, Farida, Nazli)
Even Better Than the Real ThingSince Ahmed's relationship with her mom is kind of a downer, it's lucky that she has four women to nurse, spoil, and generally entertain her. Ahmed remembers her aunt...