Beyond the Golden Door by Ali Master

[Charmaine Mahlangu]

From a lavished Pakistani background Ali lands in Copenhagen with more surprises ahead of him than anything. Anticipating the streets to be made of gold and thats not quiet what he found and his journey has made him wiser and exceptionally smarter. This is an amazing look into a land you have never been to .

American freedoms from an immigrants perspective is amazing. We all somehow resonate even though we have never left our own countries. From Pakistani Ali pursues his 30 hour journey with Mi Khan who happens to be Ahmed's father. Ahmed is Ali's friend and travelling with him Ali carries a secret he needs to maintain against Mi Khan that Ahmed is gay. From Karachi to Dubai,Copenhagen to New York and finally Dallas, Texas.

We see Ali growing up as the only child and how it has affected him from the sexually immoral helpers to him being aware what rape looks like. We all think it is easy for men or boys but as we read we get to find out it's actually harder. " I truly believed that hiding was for the best and dealing with problems alone was normal " . This quote by Ali made me realise that this is not ideal even though I still struggle with asking for help to this day.

We see how poisonous religion can be while it turns people into people we nolonger recognise. They believe that Allah sent 124 prophets and Jesus was one of them ... edgy. I found this interesting. Changing religions also shows that he is an open minded individual and this book was so easy and harmonious to read.

A 5 out of 5 rating for this exceptional read . Chapters were straight to the point , the humour was understandable and he told a sad , heartbreaking story in a light tone. Now that's artistic.It shows that he really took 18 years to compile this.