Reading this novel was an unusual experience in that it was a fascinating, but at the same time,a very painful and disturbing read. I would go as far as to say this was a real page turner. It focused on two different Afghani women. One living at the beginning of the 20th century and the other at the beginning of the 21st. I was always wondering what would happen next. But sadly most of the time it was just a case of their lives deteriorating further and further. The saddest and most painful aspect of this novel was that women living in modern day Afghanistan really have it no better than the women living centuries ago. The book ends with a glimmer of hope, but the overall message of the book left me wondering if the men of Afghanistan will ever realize the injustices they commit against their women ?
I haven't found a book by that I haven't liked. Maybe it is because I have a preference or fondness toward fiction set in the Middle East or maybe it is because woos me in such a way with her writing, that it is impossible for me to put a book by her down.
In there are two alternating story lines. Usually when I'm presented with a book written in such a way, I prefer one story to the other. Not this time. Both stories were equally mesmerizing and moving.
The reason I like to read about the Middle East is because I find the culture so interesting. In this book, Nadia Hashimi writes about the custom of the Bacha Posh. A Bacha Posh is a girl that is dressed up as a boy when a family is unable to have a son. In the Middle East, having a male heir is of utmost importance and a family without one is looked upon as weak. Therefore, in this book, we meet Rahima and her family. They were unfortunately, cursed with all daughters. Finding themselves unable to produce a male heir, they turned Rahima, into Rahim. As Rahim, Rahima felt free. She could roam the streets unsupervised, attend school, and kick a ball around. Rahim represented everything that 鈥淩ahima鈥� wasn鈥檛 in her female role. Unfortunately for Rahima, being a bacha posh doesn鈥檛 last forever. When a woman starts her bleeding or 鈥渋llness鈥� as it is known in the middle eastern culture, they must be turned back into their female selves. When Rahima is changed back.. her naseeb.. or her destiny.. is changed as well.
This book would not be considered technically perfect in terms of its writing. It might not be precise or exact in terms of its grammar. But for me.. it was a perfect story. And that is why I read. I crave a good story, like my body craves nutrients. nourishes me, she feeds my soul. I would settle for nothing less.
This is the story of Rahima and Shekiba. Rahima is our main storyteller, who became a child bride at the age of thirteen, and, together with her two older sisters, Shahla and Parwin, were sold into marriage by their father on the same day. Her life would be riddled with everything an Afghani woman could encounter as part of the cultural practices in their families. The picturesque prose would relate a story of fear, oppression, abuse, love, hope and freedom. Her aunt, Khala Shaima, crippled and man-less, became her mainstay with the ongoing narrative she told her nieces about their great-great-great grandmother, Shekiba, who worked as a girl-man guard to the king's harem a century earlier.
Rahima herself became Rahim, a bacha posh, when her mother could not produce a son and it was decided that Rahima had to act as the boy in the family. Although it made their life easier, it also allowed Rahima a freedom of movement no other girl ever enjoyed. It planted the seed of her eventual decision to break free and fly away, like the birds in her sister, Parwin's paintings. But it also created the situation in which her whole life would become a tale devoid of poetry and prose in her new husband's house.
Comments: I do not have the ability to describe the profound feelings this book has ignited. It was not meant as an emotional roller coaster ride for the reader at all, but for me it toggled all the buttons of every emotions in existence. There was not suppose to be soppy tears behind the prose. It is also one of those books, written so beautifully, which forces the reader to wander word for word through the lives of all the courageous women in Afghanistan. This is the story of a country's women, experiencing the political and social upheavals of a country's own weaknesses and strengths, and the role the people play in being forced to be the buffer zone between the competing external powers battling for control over the region and how the people adapt to the challenges and hardships.
The detailed and rich prose ensure that the reader walks away with a much deeper understanding for a country we only see through the constant wars and upheavals in the media.
This story contains all the elements that make a book a winner: smells, tastes, colors, emotions, history, traditions, politics: everything a good book needs to become a great one! Rahima became so real that I wanted to write her a letter after closing the book! Although it is a fictional tale, written with such grace and integrity, it portrays enough of reality to leave the reader informed and wiser in the end. I simply loved this book.
Readers of Khaled Hosseini will dance for joy. This is the book for you! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
This is an uncorrected e-proof in the Witness Impulse stall by HarperCollins Publishers. It was made available by for review
I really enjoyed the ideas behind the book but not so much the execution which is why I was kind of leaning towards three stars at first. The writing felt juvenile in places and then it would change and be very eloquent. I read this book completely and I wanted to finish it I just wish the editing was better and she had made the writing in the story more consistent and there were places where I felt like I didn't really get anything out of the scenes. I think it's a better read for someone younger but I think if you're well read it's not as satisfying because the author lacks the ability to use language in a more subtle way and build the story that way.
Writing legend and authority on all things Afghani, Khaled Hosseini, endorses this book, and generously wrote thus: "Nadia Hashimi has written a tender and beautiful family story. Her always engaging multigenerational tale is a portrait of Afghanistan in all of its perplexing, enigmatic glory."
Always engaging? Really? This unpolished pearl certainly succeeded in breaking my shell and I gave up on it after a charitably gallant effort. It's poorly edited, the writing is all over the place and there is a paucity of story, or character, development. I wasn't even sensorily transported to Afghanistan. It could have been anywhere! I can only assume that the Hosseinis and the Hashimis must know each other from attending glitzy social events. The Kite Runner it ain't.
I was a little girl and then I wasn't. I was a bacha posh and then I wasn't. I was a daughter and then I wasn't. I was a mother and then I wasn't.
3.5 stars. I am in two minds about this book. On the plus side I thought the two alternating stories was good, and it really made me think about women's life鈥檚 in Afghanistan. Even though we "know" that they have very little power or freedom, it is a shock to the system to read what this means when translated into someone's daily life. Some of the aspects I enjoyed the most were learning about what a bacha posh is, how the parliament works (or doesn't) and that disabilities are so abhorred. I was really upset about how cruel some women could be to other women, especially the mother-in-law characters. I understand that this is because they have no other power, but I still find it very sad. So why did I think this book was good and not great. I have to admit that I'm not a 100% sure. I suspect it has something to do with the author's writing style. I did not deeply connect with any of the characters. This is definitely not the general feeling out there when reading other reviews, so please try this book if you normally enjoy this genre. I am still glad that I read it even though it was not a 5 star read for me.
Nadia Hashimi is a pediatrician, novelist, and a former Democratic congressional candidate for the United States House of Representatives for Maryland's 6th congressional district.
Hashimi is the author of three international bestselling novels, The Pearl that Broke Its Shell, When the Moon Is Low, and A House Without Windows.
Afghan-American Nadia Hashimi's literary debut novel is a searing tale of powerlessness, fate, and the freedom to control one's own fate that combines the cultural flavor and emotional resonance of the works of Khaled Hosseini, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Lisa See.
In Kabul, 2007, with a drug-addicted father and no brothers, Rahima and her sisters can only sporadically attend school, and can rarely leave the house.
Their only hope lies in the ancient custom of bacha posh, which allows young Rahima to dress and be treated as a boy until she is of marriageable age. As a son, she can attend school, go to the market, and chaperone her older sisters.
But Rahima is not the first in her family to adopt this unusual custom. A century earlier, her great-great grandmother, Shekiba, left orphaned by an epidemic, saved herself and built a new life the same way.
Crisscrossing in time, The Pearl the Broke Its Shell interweaves the tales of these two women separated by a century who share similar destinies.
But what will happen once Rahima is of marriageable age?
Will Shekiba always live as a man?
And if Rahima cannot adapt to life as a bride, how will she survive?
I have a rule that I do not rate a book unless I read more than half and it is valid for this book as well. The rule does not mean that I will no write a my thoughts on the bit that I read.
I decided to buy this because of its subject: the difficult life of women in Aghanistan. The novel is about the use of the bacha posh custom where young girls are dressed and treated as boys until they become of marriageable age. The custom is usually used to save the honor of daughter-only families and to allow the women/girls in the house to go outside.
Although the subject was very harsh and my heart should have broken in front of the hardship the characters had to face I didn鈥檛 feel anything. I could not connect with Rahima or Shekiba, the main characters, they felt flat to me. The only emotion I acknowledged was anger with the grandmother of Shekiba. It is terrible how women tear each other apart. I understand they only have power over other weaker women but still, it is not an excuse to act heartless and treat someone so bad.
I was not impressed by the writing and the dialog did not seem to add anything to the story. It could have been an ok read, maybe more, but I did not have the patience. I can read a book where the writing does not appeal to me if the plot is addictive but it was not the case here.
The bacha posh custom interests me and I am planning to expand my knowledge on the subject by reading ,which is non-fiction and I hope the quality is much better.
Com 5 filhas para criar e o Padar-Jan afectado pela guerra e viciado no 贸pio, a Madar-Jan nadava em afli莽玫es!
- Esta fam铆lia precisa dum filho 鈥� interveio em seu aux铆lio Khala Shaima, a irm茫 mais velha da Madar-Jan.
- Dum filho!? 脡 esse o teu melhor conselho?! Est谩s-me a dizer aquilo que eu j谩 sei, h谩 que s茅culos! H谩 muito que isso teria acontecido, se acaso a tua irm茫 fosse melhor esposa! 鈥攔etorquira o Padar-Jan com azedume
Ao inv茅s de ripostar, Khala Shaima contou uma hist贸ria:
H谩 um s茅culo atr谩s, Shekiba, a trisav贸 das raparigas, trabalhara incans谩vel ao lado do pai 鈥� executava todos os trabalhos pesados e lavrava a terra. Tornara-se forte, musculada e espada煤da que nem um rapaz. Transformara-se em Shekib 鈥� o filho que o pai almejara...
A hist贸ria n茫o convencera o Padar-Jan, que abominava as intromiss玫es constantes de Khala Shaima. Por茅m, conquistara a Madar-Jan, que vira nela a solu莽茫o para as dispensas vazias e as mi煤das sempre em casa, sem escola. Um filho poderia ir ao mercado regatear pre莽os e acompanhar as irm茫s nas sa铆das.
E foi assim, que Rahima, a mais nova das cinco raparigas, virou Rahim. Aparou o cabelo e trocou a burca pelas cal莽as, tornando-se o irm茫o e filho Salvador...
A mulher afeg茫 vive no inferno. O seu destino nasce com ela 鈥� um prolongamento do DNA que a sociedade lhe imp玫e:
Casar, Parir e Trabalhar at茅 Sucumbir!
Fora de portas o oxig茅nio 茅-lhe negado, a n茫o ser que saia atrelada a algum macho, seleccionado pela fam铆lia para o efeito. Vive em cativeiro, num estado de pris茫o permanente, e s贸 lhe 茅 permitido sair na companhia dum guarda.
Por茅m, h谩 uma luz ao fundo do t煤nel 鈥� a opera莽茫o 鈥渂acha posh鈥�, que em afeg茫o significa mascarar uma rapariga de rapaz...
E esta 茅 a hist贸ria de duas bacha posh que se bateram pela liberdade 鈥� arriscaram, sofreram, lutaram, e transitaram da Sobreviv锚ncia para a Vida!...
Cada mulher afeg茫 茅 uma p茅rola enclausurada na sua concha. Por茅m, h谩 aquelas que se negam a uma vida bivalve 鈥� partem a concha e rolam, permitindo-se um raio de luz nas suas vidas, doutra forma, enegrecidas 馃槉
Para a Mulher Ocidental a Liberdade 茅 um Direito! Para a Mulher Afeg茫 a Liberdade 茅 uma Conquista!
With 5 daughters to raise and a husband addicted to opium, Mother-Jan had plenty of worries material!
鈥� This family needs a son, advised Khala Shaima, the eldest sister of Mother-Jan
鈥� You really think so? A son?! Is that your best advice, Shaima?! Next time, try telling me something I鈥檓 not sick and tired to know! Maybe if your sister could be a better wife, we already had a boy playing around!?... 鈥� replied Father-Jan sourly, cos he thoroughly hated Khala Shaima always sneaking around! However, instead of proceeding with that useless conversation, Khala Shaima told him a story:
A century ago, Bibi Shekiba, the great-great-grandmother of the girls, worked the fields, side by side with her father. In the process, she got strong muscles and a hard skin, just like any peasant male 鈥� Shekiba was turning into the boy her father needed so badly...
Shaima's story couldn't convince Father-Jan, but it conquered Mother-Jan, that looked at it as a recipe to fill the empty closets, and the possibility of girls going out for school!
A boy could run errands and escort the girls out whenever required...
So it was time for Rahima (the youngest of the girls) having a short haircut, trade the burka for trousers, and reborn Rahim, the aimed son and brother, who could lead the family to salvation!..
And this is the story of Rahima/Rahim and Shekiba/Shekib, two brave women who fought their way to freedom...
An afghan woman is like a pearl imprisoned in the darkness of an oyster. However, some of them are shell breakers, and start rolling towards the light!
For Western Women Freedom is a Right! For Afghan Women Freedom is a Conquest!
"The pearl that broke its shell" may be a fiction tale, but it's also a story of Thousand Truths!!! 馃グ
I liked this book,it was so interesting.An eye catching title and a beautiful cover.
And yet,I almost abandoned it in the beginning. The start wasn't too great and the endless repetition of certain phrases like Mader Jan and Pader Jan (for mother and father) was pretty irritating.
I thought,this is yet another story about the miseries of Afghan women and I have read plenty of this sort of stuff before.
But I kept on reading and the story got better and better. I was soon totally engrossed and found it hard to put down.
It's sad,at times it is funny and it's very dramatic. I hadn't read about a "bacha posh" before (girls made to look like boys in Afghanistan). That would make for a hard transition,from girl to boy,and then back to girl again.
Forced marriages of very young girls,domestic violence,a warlord and the happenings in a king's harem make for a compelling mix.
These are the stories of two women,a century apart. Both are compelling and it's good to see that after all the hardship they have to endure,there's hope.
Terrific storytelling,the book exceeded my expectations.
Un magnifique roman qui m鈥檃 fait traverser tellement d鈥櫭﹎otions. Rahima est la troisi猫me fille d鈥檜ne famille de 5 filles, elle vit en Afghanistan en 2007 sous la fin de r猫gne des talibans. Sa m猫re suivant les conseils de sa s艙ur va d茅cider de travestir sa fille en gar莽on et lui offrir le bien le plus pr茅cieux pour une petite fille: la libert茅. Ce livre 脿 litt茅ralement bris茅e mon c艙ur 脿 plusieurs moments la violence des hommes l鈥檌njustice la sournoiserie des femmes plus 芒g茅es qui s鈥檈n prennent 脿 la plus jeune. En parall猫le de l鈥檋istoire de Rahima on va suivre Shekiba l鈥檃rri猫re arri猫re grand m猫re de Rahima elle aussi a d没 se d茅guiser en homme pour survivre. Une belle histoire 脿 lire et 脿 relire
Bravo, Hashimi on a wonderful debut novel! I thoroughly enjoyed this... I do think 'Birds Fly Away' would have been a better title! I highly recommend this to fans of Khaled Hosseini and I look forward to reading more by her!
I am torn between 3 and 4 stars. I liked the story, it is the writing that I had a problem with. I will start with the story portion.
This story was told from the view point of two women in Afghanistan 100 years apart. Even though there was a huge gap between the two women, their stories were similar. It was all so sad, tragic and painful. It pained me straight to the heart, to read some of this. I felt the same way about this novel as I did about by Khaled Hosseini. It was like tragedy pinball, going from one painful and tragic moment straight to the next one. The author seemed set on 'high score'. Every single time these women had even a small glimmer of hope or happiness, it was ripped away from them in such a cruel manner. And it wasn't just the men who brought about their heart breaks. The women, too, were oppressive to the 'lesser' women in their keep.
Here is an assignment if you read this. Every time these women have something good in their life, just say, "uh-oh!" And I kid you not, it will be ripped away from them. If you are looking for a warm fuzzy, this book is not it. Or if you like a big red bow to tie things up in the end, then this book may not be the one for you. Even with all the sadness, I would give the story 4 stars.
Now for the writing. The writing was kind of rough and in other places it was almost poetic. The author relied heavily on dialog, which isn't such a bad thing. I love great dialog. But it wasn't enough to carry the entire book. In my review of the story portion of this book, I compared it to because of the similar theme on the tragedy scale, but the writing in this book was no where near as wonderful and descriptive as Khaled Hosseini's. I would read his work again in a heart beat. I don't feel that for this book. The writing was just, "meh".
I thought the title was a little strange, but it makes total sense at the end. Over all, this was thought provoking. I wish these women had the same opportunities for freedom and happiness as the men. Life without love, respect, forgiveness and a soft place to fall is a deep dark void.
I feel I should have given this a higher rating since I read the whole thing, and it kept me fairly engrossed, especially toward the end. But the writing was so, so bad -- atrocious would be a good word. The dialog was stilted, and seemed so flat. The sentences were either too complex, or much too simple. The story was not told well at all. The editing was terrible. With two main points of view, from two different characters, one told in first person, one told in third person, you would think the author and the editor would have gone over every word with an eagle eye. However the first person/third person switch was jumbled many, many times, making this an incredibly confusing read. I enjoyed learning a bit more about Islam culture, but that's about all I can say for this book. I will absolutely not recommend it to anyone.
***I received this book as part of the First Reads Giveaway program.***
If you鈥檙e a woman reading this book, it *will* make you think. I鈥檇 been aware of the treatment of women in Afghanistan for years (having worked for an international business school that supported the building of entrepreneurial skills for promising Afghan businesswomen). However, this story 鈥� while fiction 鈥� still put things in perspective for me. Mainly: that no matter how busy we are as American women 鈥� juggling family and career 鈥� or how neglected we may feel at times, we are still on a much more level playing field with our spouses and in our workplaces. We are free to make our own choices and have our own opinions.
Our worth is not determined by our ability to bear sons. Our daughters are not disposable giveaways. We are not our husbands鈥� property and it is not our 鈥榙uty鈥� to provide sex. This story of a granddaughter living in 2007 Afghanistan and her great-great grandmother living there a century earlier illustrates all of these injustices in an Afghanistan that, ironically, was moving more toward female equality 100 years ago than it was in 2007 (at least, that鈥檚 how I interpreted the story).
The premise of this book intrigued me from the start: what happens to girls whose families participate in the ancient, long-accepted tradition, *bacha posh*, in which a daughter dresses and lives as a boy before puberty? What freedoms does a girl have when she changes her identity to behave as a boy and act as a man in a man鈥檚 world?
Despite my interest in this story and its message, as well as my appreciation of the storyline itself, I have to admit to feeling distanced from the two main characters Shekiba and Rahima. I think this was largely due to the expository style of the writing (so many portions of the story would have played out well as scenes 鈥� and would really have created empathy between reader and character). Even so, the story is what kept me reading. Despite not being as close as I鈥檇 hoped with the characters, as a woman, I could empathize with the main characters, root for them, and care about them enough to be concerned bout their fates.
And to be honest, at 450 pages, this book could have been more effective, I think, if tightened up. In many areas I found the pace waxing and my focus waning. And this is not a criticism of the author, because editing could have easily fixed this quibble of mine, but there are more exclamation points within dialogue of this story than in the past 50 books I鈥檝e read (I don鈥檛 think that鈥檚 an exaggeration. I believe there were four or five exclamation points on the first page, alone).
The author did a good job of interweaving the dual stories from differing timelines, and I think this book does a great job of shedding light on the circumstances of women in the Afghan culture 鈥� and it goes a long way in pointing out that all women deserve a say, deserve to be respected, and deserve to stand up for themselves.
3.5 stars Nadia Hashimi's debut novel is a dual storyline set in Afghanistan and centers around two women- Rahima(21st century) and Shekiba(20th century). Both women are trying to not lose sight of themselves in their male dominated world.
Having read Hashimi's second and third novels, I think this might be my least favorite of the trio. There was a bit of choppiness in the writing and the storylines dragged a bit in places. However, the voices of the character are captivating enough that a newcomer would be able to see that the women of Afghanistan are dear to the author.
I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher William Morrow via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. The expected publication date is May 6 2014.
It is not too often that a book will render me speechless. Many times I may find the wrong words but never speechless. This book has done that to me. I don't know where to start! To top it off, this is Hashimi's debut novel? You have to be kidding me! She really nailed it her first time out of the gate.
This story was haunting, tragic and infuriating all in one shot. Hashimi weaves a tail of two different women years apart who suffered from the oppression experienced towards woman in Afghanistan. Many times I had to remind myself that this was just a story however sadly I feel that the way these woman were treated is not purely fiction. I will be honest and say I do not know a whole lot about Afghanistan aside from the current events of the last years and I know nothing of their culture. This story did not shed a positive light on that.
To think that there are woman out there that have to endure what Rahima and Shekiba went through is the part that angered me. To know that this occurs while I am living the life of luxury also humbled me and made me thankful for what I have. This story opened my eyes to some of the "ugly" things out there in the world. To think that you have no real value because you are a daughter instead of a son. In my reality that would have made my father a failure as he had three daughters - who have all gone on to successful and fulfilling endeavours I might add.
In my opinion the mark of a truly great read has two criteria. The first is it evokes emotion and the second is that it makes me think. This did just that. I was sad and angry throughout this read. More importantly is the thoughts that it put in my head. The majority of this review has been made up of my reaction to the story and less about the plot. That my friends means this is a winner.
This was an emotional and moving read (I would say poignant however I never use the most overused word in the literary review world). I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a serious yet entertaining read. This is not for the light hearted however you are rewarded ten times over. I still cannot believe this is Hashimi's first novel. I wish a had a quarter of her talent. I truly hope she releases more work in her future