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Finding Peace in the Holy Land: A British Muslim Memoir
The daughter of a Jewish model and troubled TV star Lauren Booth survived a house fire, lived through the excesses of the nineties as an aspiring actress, welcomed ‘our’ Tony Blair into her family, put her life as a parent at risk to report on Palestine, twice, found faith in a mosque in Iran – unsure before she entered whether they would be slaughtering goats or screaming with rage – and then as a new Muslim sobered up, started praying and became a hajji. Part adventure, part awakening, Lauren’s memoir is an inspirational journey through politics, the press, parenthood and the importance of meaning in a broken world, full of injustice and lacking in faith. Wryly written, with her British humour striking throughout, what her story also shows is the evolving relationship between culture and religion, and how to embrace the past whilst praying for a better future.
256 pages, Hardcover
Published December 11, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
September 17, 2023
A beautifully written account of the remarkable, captivating and inspiring journey of journalist Lauren Booth (that I didn't even know who she was before I randomly came across her Instagram account 😅).
I loved this book, it made me laugh, cry and grateful to my life while giving me insight into differents subjects. Loved and admired how she was always using her skills to help other. Just weeks after giving birth she went marching against the Iraq war in 2003 !
I loved this book, it made me laugh, cry and grateful to my life while giving me insight into differents subjects. Loved and admired how she was always using her skills to help other. Just weeks after giving birth she went marching against the Iraq war in 2003 !
January 13, 2021
I had the pleasure of meeting and listening to Lauren Booth a couple years back at my local mosque, where my mum bought a copy of her book ‘Finding peace in the Holy Land’ (she signed it for her with ‘To Shereen, my Egyptian Sis!’ - I had always smiled at that personal inscription) I soon realised it wasn’t an ordinary speech as she cleared herself a little space in the middle of the room, shushed the children, and began to act. It was a short but heartwarming performance on her encounters with a certain family in Palestine - A family which I would encounter later on in more depth when reading her memoir.
I don’t know what I expected on opening the first page, armed with a highlighter and ready to annotate, but somehow I didn’t think it’d affect me so greatly. Lauren’s writing is fast and witty, making you feel as if you’re having a friendly conversation over tea as you fly through the pages. She tells the story of her childhood, her dappling in fame in the 90’s being known as ‘Tony Blair’s sister-in-law’, and then her strange, emotional and gradual beckoning to Islam. Trips to Palestine, meeting Islamic figures, reading the Quran and visiting Mecca to perform Hajj. It was here on her journey to discovering Islam that I began nodding in recognition, thinking ‘Finally somebody’s said it’. Booth struggles with conflicting and ingrained preconceptions about what is the world’s most misunderstood religion, but through her self discovery, she breaks down these prejudices using logic and personal experience.
I hadn’t ever been so absorbed in a religious book, but I could finally relate. The struggles of keeping personal faith in the face of blatant disregard. Living in a country where they see the scarf on your head before looking at your face. Having the audacity of equality and the hypocrisy to hope.
This memoir made me angry. How could I ignore something written in front of me? The reminder of how complacent we all are, guilty of the crime of simply not doing anything. The normalisation of seeing arabic land riddled with war and famine and death. ‘A middle eastern country? Oh, not them again’. I was angry at the poorest of the poor families of Palestine who despite their crippling hunger, still insisted their, already well-fed, guests eat before their own starving children. But I wasn’t really angry at them, was I? I was angry at myself, for not realising enough how truly blessed and privileged I am. Towards them,I felt pride, because even while having the option of so many excuses, they still showed true morals of my religion in the face of adversity. I found myself thinking, ‘These are my people.’ every time an act of pure kindness from, very often strangers, was mentioned. Never have I given more thanks to God for all my blessings than during this book.
-“ 𝙄 𝙖𝙨𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙗𝙤𝙮, 𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙧, 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢 𝙬𝙖𝙨, 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙤𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙧. 𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙, 𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙣 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚, 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚-𝙛𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙨 𝙮𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙘𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙨, 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨, 𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙨, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙩.
“𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙖𝙩,’ 𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮.”
So I urge you to read it. If not for the children of Palestine, If not for the epiphany that almost everything you hear, see, read about Islam is cruelly skewed, If not to prove yourselves true allies through education rather than submission, then for your muslim friends or acquaintances. The ones who just want to be understood. Read it for me, then send a message and we’ll talk about it. I can try and answer any questions you may have, and you’ll be a better person, with much wider horizons coming out of it.
If I could meet Lauren again, have her perform and talk, I think I’d listen a bit harder. I’d go say hello (rather than shyly waiting to get back to my friends like a few years back) and thank her sincerely. Perhaps I’d ask for a few more stories, and apologize that this review couldn’t be longer. Because I, like so many others when this topic is concerned, will never run out of things to say.
I don’t know what I expected on opening the first page, armed with a highlighter and ready to annotate, but somehow I didn’t think it’d affect me so greatly. Lauren’s writing is fast and witty, making you feel as if you’re having a friendly conversation over tea as you fly through the pages. She tells the story of her childhood, her dappling in fame in the 90’s being known as ‘Tony Blair’s sister-in-law’, and then her strange, emotional and gradual beckoning to Islam. Trips to Palestine, meeting Islamic figures, reading the Quran and visiting Mecca to perform Hajj. It was here on her journey to discovering Islam that I began nodding in recognition, thinking ‘Finally somebody’s said it’. Booth struggles with conflicting and ingrained preconceptions about what is the world’s most misunderstood religion, but through her self discovery, she breaks down these prejudices using logic and personal experience.
I hadn’t ever been so absorbed in a religious book, but I could finally relate. The struggles of keeping personal faith in the face of blatant disregard. Living in a country where they see the scarf on your head before looking at your face. Having the audacity of equality and the hypocrisy to hope.
This memoir made me angry. How could I ignore something written in front of me? The reminder of how complacent we all are, guilty of the crime of simply not doing anything. The normalisation of seeing arabic land riddled with war and famine and death. ‘A middle eastern country? Oh, not them again’. I was angry at the poorest of the poor families of Palestine who despite their crippling hunger, still insisted their, already well-fed, guests eat before their own starving children. But I wasn’t really angry at them, was I? I was angry at myself, for not realising enough how truly blessed and privileged I am. Towards them,I felt pride, because even while having the option of so many excuses, they still showed true morals of my religion in the face of adversity. I found myself thinking, ‘These are my people.’ every time an act of pure kindness from, very often strangers, was mentioned. Never have I given more thanks to God for all my blessings than during this book.
-“ 𝙄 𝙖𝙨𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙗𝙤𝙮, 𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙧, 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢 𝙬𝙖𝙨, 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙤𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙧. 𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙, 𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙣 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚, 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚-𝙛𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙨 𝙮𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙘𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙨, 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨, 𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙨, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙩.
“𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙖𝙩,’ 𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮.”
So I urge you to read it. If not for the children of Palestine, If not for the epiphany that almost everything you hear, see, read about Islam is cruelly skewed, If not to prove yourselves true allies through education rather than submission, then for your muslim friends or acquaintances. The ones who just want to be understood. Read it for me, then send a message and we’ll talk about it. I can try and answer any questions you may have, and you’ll be a better person, with much wider horizons coming out of it.
If I could meet Lauren again, have her perform and talk, I think I’d listen a bit harder. I’d go say hello (rather than shyly waiting to get back to my friends like a few years back) and thank her sincerely. Perhaps I’d ask for a few more stories, and apologize that this review couldn’t be longer. Because I, like so many others when this topic is concerned, will never run out of things to say.
Read
October 27, 2018Practising faith is like opening a door and realizing your life so far has been lived in a broom cupboard in the mention of existence. Reality actually lies beyond and underneath the nuts and bolts, the brooms and cloths of the material world.
Finding Peace in the Holy Land is a memoir by Lauren Booth, who is probably best well-known as Tony Blair’s sister-in-law. Beginning with her hilarious upbringing, and cycling through her life as an actress, a political activist, and then a journalist and humanitarian, it is ultimately the story of how she came to Islam.
Booth has a lovely sense of humor, and her writing is as spontaneous and vivacious as she herself is. Her sharp descriptions of the landscape in Palestine (“a building decorated in the local flavor; bullet holes”) and her narrative flair (“It was excellent advice. Advice I would completely ignore”) were a pleasure to read.
The turning point of her narrative is in the holy land, where she comes to terms with her prejudice, her views on women and family, and her assumption that the main story in the holy land is Christianity.
This book is a beautiful reminder of how Allah leads people to Islam in different ways. Booth spent a considerable part of her life feeling conflicted about her materialistic lifestyle at home and struggling to advance humanitarian causes abroad. She found herself drawn to Palestine again and again. And it is there, during the month of Ramadan, that the generosity of a Palestinian woman is what finally opens her heart to Islam.
A door in my heart felt like it had been opened by these magic words: "I fast in Ramadan to remember the poor." Yet Um Mohamed was poor herself, catastrophically, appallingly, permanently, desperately poor. . . Of course, now it all made sense. If you recognize there were always those worse off than you, how could you sink into self-pity and endless speculation about work, money, the future? How could you envy when you were blessed? If you cared about your neighbor like yourself, if you were busy with their concerns, it took the edge off your own. What a remarkable system! A welfare state of human empathy, flowing from household to household and all with one purpose: To love and to please God. . . I was in a beautiful daze and then the thought came to me clear as day: "If this is Islam, I want to be Muslim."
Booth’s writing is raw and honest. She comes face-to-face with her privilege during her travels, but she doesn’t stop there. I really appreciated the way she takes the idea of privilege one step further to extend to her faith and patience. The idea being that, yes, there is suffering in the world, so why should it not also extend to her? Why should she get a free pass? Is she not a human being, like everyone else? She says:
For weeks during the trial I wanted to stay in bed and asked over and over, "why me?" Instead I forced myself to work, as so many single mums do around the world. What kept me going was the thought that it first seems negative, but proved very powerful: "Why not me?" Why shouldn't calamities hit my family when they afflicted others? Life wasn't about building castles in the sky, clinging to material goods thinking that well would keep disasters at bay. A positive outlook, kindness, the giving of love even in the midst of a personal drama, I found these things mattered more. Illness, financial pressures, divorce, and loss where the things of life. All I now had to ask was: how was I going to deal with them?
My one tiny gripe with this memoir is that it wasn’t always perfectly linear, and I wish it was because I sometimes found the order of events confusing. Booth often tells the beginning and ending of a story before returning to something that happened in the middle. I found this disorienting, and I had to go back several times to reread a bit, trying to discern the timeline.
I recommend this book for anyone who likes memoirs and stories of how people found Islam, as well as anyone interested in stories of strong women, humanitarian work, or the Palestinian occupation.
Thank you to Kube Publishing for sending me a copy of this book.
November 10, 2021
Lauren booth, a journalist, well known for former British prime minister Tony Blair’s sister-in-law experienced and found Islam as her faith through some incredible real life stores. Though she found Islam through Shia belief in Iran not knowing the original Sunni version of it, it did not stop her travelling and living with some Palestinian families where she experienced how Palestine as a country turned in to the biggest prison in the world. The lives of the inhabitants there pass with extreme poverty and inhuman way because of politics and dictatorship. It touches Lauren's mind and she raised her voice for them risking her life in many different ways. Meanwhile back in home in England a divorced was being progressed by her husband. Will it make Lauren single again? How will she survive with the new faith when she comes back at home and discovered the surrounding and the media are highly unfriendly only because she accepted Islam? Will her little daughter accept her faith as Muslim? Finally how did she find peace? Many more to explore in the book to make someone thrilled, sad, surprised of how Lauren's real life goes on like an imaginative story.
August 1, 2025
First ever book to make me cry lol. As someone who wants to take my shahada & get into journalism, this was a fascinating read
God bless Lauren Booth & God bless Palestine 🇵🇸
God bless Lauren Booth & God bless Palestine 🇵🇸
December 31, 2018
Lauren’s story is captivating. Her journey from daughter of her well known English actor father and how he instilled in her to believe in herself. I relate to her story in so many levels and reading her book has made me realize our journeys are only at the beginning. Her love for Palestinians as well as human suffering is heart warming. I recommend this book to Muslim and non Muslim alike. I feel so connected to her story. Be ready to laugh, cry and become educated. She brought me to tears when i first watched her on you-tube many years ago describing her experience in Palestine. I am so happy to have her story in print. Thank you sister Lauren-Sarah! Brilliant!
November 15, 2018
"Finding Peace in the Holy Land, A British Muslim Memoir" is more than a story of religious conversion, it is a compelling history of finding reality and the meaning of life through pain and suffering. And the pain and suffering were not Lauren Booth's alone, either as a child or as an adult facing the vicissitudes of divorce. The author saw it in others through trips to the Middle East. Strongly affected by the misery of Palestine and its people, yet impressed by their steadfastness in the face of unbelievable poverty and political pressure, she felt drawn to them in a way few have.
The author knows her subject. Writing for a variety of British newspapers, PressTV, and other similar organizations, Lauren Booth filed hard-hitting stories from and about the region, including hard-to-get interviews with local and prominent national figures. She presented programs on BBC Radio (London) and on other broadcasting services.
Demonstrating her skills as a journalist, Lauren Booth makes this book easy to read, informative, and educational. It provides a very personal but analytical way of looking at Arabs and Islam. The work also demonstrates the different viewpoints between East and West as well as Europe's pre-conceived and rather prejudicial notions about Arabs and Muslims. An additional advantage is that the author sprinkles on-point, very apt quotes from the Holy Qur'an throughout the book.
I met Lauren Booth in Mashhad, Iran during a conference on Palestine. She is as impressive in person as in these pages. On stage as a public speaker, Lauren Booth is a commanding presence, with a moving and powerful message. She demonstrates that in this work.
A high school teacher, George Schemel, S.J., once told our class that "a book is a machine to think with". "Finding Peace in the Holy Land" proves he was right.
The author knows her subject. Writing for a variety of British newspapers, PressTV, and other similar organizations, Lauren Booth filed hard-hitting stories from and about the region, including hard-to-get interviews with local and prominent national figures. She presented programs on BBC Radio (London) and on other broadcasting services.
Demonstrating her skills as a journalist, Lauren Booth makes this book easy to read, informative, and educational. It provides a very personal but analytical way of looking at Arabs and Islam. The work also demonstrates the different viewpoints between East and West as well as Europe's pre-conceived and rather prejudicial notions about Arabs and Muslims. An additional advantage is that the author sprinkles on-point, very apt quotes from the Holy Qur'an throughout the book.
I met Lauren Booth in Mashhad, Iran during a conference on Palestine. She is as impressive in person as in these pages. On stage as a public speaker, Lauren Booth is a commanding presence, with a moving and powerful message. She demonstrates that in this work.
A high school teacher, George Schemel, S.J., once told our class that "a book is a machine to think with". "Finding Peace in the Holy Land" proves he was right.
October 3, 2021
An honest and inspiring account of her journey to Islam, one that many converts to Islam will relate to, wherever in the world. The style is candid and straight-forward but with much emotion, and will make you laugh at times and cry too.
What I found the most fascinating were two aspects - her childhood life as the daughter of British actor Tony Booth and her activism for the plight of the Palestinian people. The first because it shows the frailty and humanity of celebrities, how they struggled sometimes, but also because it shows a side to her father as a caring man, deeply concerned by the conditions of the poor and oppressed. This helps us understand better why she herself became so active in these issues. The second is obviously because the oppression of the Palestinian people is something that is heart-breaking, but how many sacrificed weeks of their lives to go on a humanitarian ship to break the embargo, risk their comfort and security like she did along the other crew members? It is this sacrifice, and natural empathy with people's struggles, that eventually led her to a more spiritual life, a connection with the Creator, and then Islam.
It's a very enjoyable read all in all. I am being treated to the audiobook version which is read by Lauren Booth herself, what joy to hear all these wonderful stories and thoughts in her own voice!
What I found the most fascinating were two aspects - her childhood life as the daughter of British actor Tony Booth and her activism for the plight of the Palestinian people. The first because it shows the frailty and humanity of celebrities, how they struggled sometimes, but also because it shows a side to her father as a caring man, deeply concerned by the conditions of the poor and oppressed. This helps us understand better why she herself became so active in these issues. The second is obviously because the oppression of the Palestinian people is something that is heart-breaking, but how many sacrificed weeks of their lives to go on a humanitarian ship to break the embargo, risk their comfort and security like she did along the other crew members? It is this sacrifice, and natural empathy with people's struggles, that eventually led her to a more spiritual life, a connection with the Creator, and then Islam.
It's a very enjoyable read all in all. I am being treated to the audiobook version which is read by Lauren Booth herself, what joy to hear all these wonderful stories and thoughts in her own voice!
July 23, 2020
Lauren Booth Sister In Law of British prime minister Tony Blair embarrassed Islam. She was a journalist and was reporting from Palestine. When she went to break fast from a Palestinian family he was much impressed by the poor family who welcomed their guest well and she started to study Islam.
A Quran was brought from Palestine and started to read the holy book which eventually made her to study much about Islam
A Quran was brought from Palestine and started to read the holy book which eventually made her to study much about Islam
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November 20, 2021 The daughter of a Jewish model and troubled TV star Lauren Booth survived a house fire, lived through the excesses of the nineties as an aspiring actress, welcomed 'our' Tony Blair into her family, put her life as a parent at risk to report on Palestine, twice, found faith in a mosque in Iran - unsure before she entered whether they would be slaughtering goats or screaming with rage - and then as a new Muslim sobered up, started praying and became a hajji.
January 8, 2022
It takes me nearly a year to finish it, not because the book is poorly written but it consumes my emotions whenever story about Palestine and Gaza comes up. You can imagine that you’re in Palestine or Gaza whenever the book talking about them.
March 31, 2024
So beautifully written. A must read!
After reading the stories I realise how hard it must for the people who convert and stay steadfast on this path!
"And He found you lost and guided [you]"
Subhanaallah
After reading the stories I realise how hard it must for the people who convert and stay steadfast on this path!
"And He found you lost and guided [you]"
Subhanaallah
May 26, 2021
Very Good ...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 10, 2022
The first part was hard to read in terms of her life. However the book gets interesting when she starts telling her account in Palestine, Hajj and how she reverted to Islam.
April 18, 2024
This book took me on a journey and helped me see the holy land from a different perspective. Highly recommend to everyone!
July 23, 2019
Despite whatever media hearsay there is about Lauren, this book really made me like her. Honest and evocative, this was just an all around nice personal account of a lady from humble beginnings whose life has taken many interesting turns with as many lessons learned.
January 19, 2022
I really love her story when she spent her night at the mosque for the first time. Beautiful and heart-warming!
And my favorite part is when her daughter asked 3 questions before she converted to Islam.
And my favorite part is when her daughter asked 3 questions before she converted to Islam.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews