Two novels by Midwest authors deal with families affected by Islam and the Middle East.

On Sunday, Keija Parssinen discusses her first novel, "The Ruins of Us," in which an American woman marries a Saudi Arabian. They move to his country, but family life becomes strained when the heroine finds out her husband has a beautiful second wife. In the meantime, their teenage son seems to be coming under the influence of a worrisome sheikh.

Parssinen isn't a native Midwesterner -- although she now lives in Columbia, Mo. She was born in 1980 in Saudi Arabia, where her family worked for an oil company. They moved to Texas in 1992 and that state plays a role in the plot.

Parssinen, who has degrees from Princeton University and the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop, will talk about her book at 2 p.m. Sunday at Left Bank Books.

In an interesting twist, a Milwaukee native who is the son of Pakistani immigrants will discuss his first novel, "American Dervish" at the store a bit more than a week later.

Ayad Akhtar's novel takes place in Wisconsin, where a family has moved to escape some of the more traditional Islamic customs. But when an old friend moves in with the family, a teenage boy falls in love as she teaches him about the Quran.

Akhtar, who is also a playwright, has a new production, "The Invisible Hand," making its world debut with the St. Louis Repertory Theatre in March. A review of Akhtar's novel will be in the Feb. 26 edition of the Post-Dispatch. He will be at Left Bank on Feb. 28.