mother and sister

She has been retracing her mother’s colourful life

Al-Noor Mosque with its majestic golden dome and the cordon of flowers along Hagley Park was at the heart of the Christchurch terrorist attack. A smaller heart beats in a humbler part of the Garden City. The Linwood Islamic Centre is a simple weatherboard house next to a liquor store across from the Eastgate Mall. Further down the gravel driveway and past an All Blacks flag, the nondescript mosque has its tribute flowers too. They are tucked into the shoe shelves.

A multicoloured chair by the entrance looks more like retro chic than religious decor. “It belonged to Mum,” says Angela Armstrong, patting the patchwork leather. Before March last year, the 45-year-old anthropology student at Canterbury University who lives an hour’s drive from Christchurch with her family had never set foot inside a New Zealand mosque. Since then