A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza

A Place for Us
by Fatima Farheen Mirza

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Just released: June 12, 2018
Publisher: SJP for Hogarth
Genre: Literary, Family, India, Muslim
Hardback: 400
Rating: 4

First sentence(s):
As Amar watched the hall fill with guests arriving for his sister's wedding, he promised himself he would stay.

As an Indian wedding gathers a family back together, parents Rafiq and Layla must reckon with the choices their children have made.

There is Hadia: their headstrong, eldest daughter, whose marriage is a match of love and not tradition. Huda, the middle child, determined to follow in her sister’s footsteps. And lastly, their estranged son, Amar, who returns to the family fold for the first time in three years to take his place as brother of the bride.

What secrets and betrayals have caused this close-knit family to fracture? Can Amar find his way back to the people who know and love him best?

A Place for Us takes us back to the beginning of this family’s life: from the bonds that bring them together, to the differences that pull them apart. All the joy and struggle of family life is here, from Rafiq and Layla’s own arrival in America from India, to the years in which their children—each in their own way—tread between two cultures, seeking to find their place in the world, as well as a path home.


My two-bits:

Tough family struggles that deal with past and present day cultural traditions and lifestyle.

One of those sad and painful stories along with frustrating moments.

~*~
* The first novel from Sarah Jessica Parker’s new imprint, SJP for Hogarth.

* part of World Reads challenge - India (here)

* part of Bout of Books 23 (here)

Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie

Home Fire
by Kamila Shamsie
narrated by Tania Rodrigues

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Just released: August 15, 2017
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Genre: Literary, Audio
Hardback: 288
Rating: 4

First sentence(s):
Isma was going to miss her flight. The ticket wouldn’t be refunded because the airline took no responsibility for passengers who arrived at the airport three hours ahead of the departure time and were escorted to an interrogation room.

Isma is free. After years of watching out for her younger siblings in the wake of their mother’s death, she’s accepted an invitation from a mentor in America that allows her to resume a dream long deferred. But she can’t stop worrying about Aneeka, her beautiful, headstrong sister back in London, or their brother, Parvaiz, who’s disappeared in pursuit of his own dream, to prove himself to the dark legacy of the jihadist father he never knew. When he resurfaces half a globe away, Isma’s worst fears are confirmed.

Then Eamonn enters the sisters’ lives. Son of a powerful political figure, he has his own birthright to live up to—or defy. Is he to be a chance at love? The means of Parvaiz’s salvation? Suddenly, two families’ fates are inextricably, devastatingly entwined, in this searing novel that asks: What sacrifices will we make in the name of love?

Audio excerpt:



My two-bits:

Issues of love and betrayal play out in this story with a Muslim experience mostly set in London.

Definitely a good read for the current times.

~*~
* Listened to audiobook version.

* part of Man Booker Prize Reading Challenge (here)