Pretty much every novel by Michel Houellebecq ruffles Islamist feathers, but the controversial Frenchman’s sixth offering really ups the ante.
Submission is set in the France of 2022. The narrator, Francois, is a middle-aged intellectual facing an existential crisis. His parents are dead, his girlfriend has moved to Israel, and his academic career is at a stadstill. Everything changes when Mohammed Ben Abbes of the Muslim Fraternity handily beats Marine Le Pen in the presidential election. Almost overnight, the country is transformed. Islamic law comes into force: women are veiled, polygamy is encouraged, and, for Francois, life is suddenly set on a new course.
This isn’t Houellebecq’s best novel, but it’s definitely his most challenging. Coincidentally, Submission was published in France on the same day as the Charlie Hebdo massacre (Houellebecq was the satirical magazine’s cover star). Here’s hoping he doesn’t become the Salman Rushdie of the 21st century.