Book Review: A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza
A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza
Publisher: SJP for Hogarth
Release Date: June 12, 2018
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
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 n way—tread between two cultures, seeking to find their place in the world, as well as a path home.
A Place for Us is a book for our times: an astonishingly tender-hearted novel of identity and belonging, and a resonant portrait of what it means to be an American family today. It announces Fatima Farheen Mirza as a major new literary talent.
Warning: This is probably going to be a gushing, rambling review. I hope I can get across just how good this book is. As you know, I love reading books with Indian characters because I am intrigued by Indian culture. This book is a study of one modern Muslim Indian American family and how their culture has shaped their relationships with one another.
It begins at Hadia’s wedding and weaves flashbacks throughout the narrative. The flashbacks are told in third person and alternate between perspectives of Layla; the mother or Hadia, the eldest daughter; or Amar, the youngest child. Some are different family members’ interpretation of the same event. Hadia feels like she can never be enough and that her parents will never love her as much as they love Amar, yet Amar feels like he will never fit in well enough for his father to love him. Of course the Hadia and Amar’s parents love them a lot.
As I read, I was constantly amazed Mirza is in her twenties and this is her first book. She has brilliant insight into the minds of both parents and children and writes both with beautiful, delicate prose. The family’s Muslim faith plays a huge role in their lives as Rafiq tries desperately to raise his children to be good Muslims in the face of the modern world. Parents of any or no religion will be able to empathize with Rafiq. The struggle to raise moral children is universal and transcends religion.
The last section is told by Rafiq in first person and broke my heart into a million pieces. Stoic and strict with his children throughout their lives, we get to see the contents of his soul. Once again, I was in awe of Mizra’s ability to authentically portray the parent’s side of a parent-child relationship.
One of the reasons I chose this book is because it is the first book in Sarah Jessica Parker’s new imprint, SJP for Hogarth. She’s smart and has good taste in general so I figured she probably knows books. Boy does she! I can’t wait to read whatever her imprint releases next. A Place for Us is amazing and Mirza is amazing. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next.
(I received a complimentary copy of this book for review.)
