On the Bookshelf Book Review: A Place for Us

A Place for Us
by Fatima Farheen Mirza
My rating:  5 out of 5 *****
Buy It: Amazon

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This is a story about an Indian-American Muslim family, living in California, struggling with being able to mesh two very different cultures.  It’s an insightful story of family dynamics and how those dynamics can forever influence the lives of the people in them. I loved this book. I cried all the way through Part 4.  It was the humanness of it that really got to me – the fallibilities of people and the imperfect way that we love is depicted beautifully in this story of a family trying to find their way.

The story starts as estranged son Amar returns home for his sister’s wedding.  Hadia had invited Amar, even though he left home years before after fighting with his dad.  Amar has not spoken to anyone in the family since he left. This has left everyone is on edge, hoping there won’t be a scene.  The author then takes us on a journey through the family’s history, telling the story of Fariq and Layla’s arranged marriage, their emigration to the United States, and the birth of their three children.   Fariq, very traditional and very strict, tries to raise his children to follow his Muslim faith and to obey the rules of tradition. Layla goes along with him, supporting her husband, sometimes at the expense of her children.  The story then outlines how this upbringing affected each of the children differently, and how the direction their lives took was directly related to it.

The author tells the tale of the family in a non-linear way.  The story jumps from Layla and Rafiq’s wedding to Amar’s middle school days, then back to when Layle was pregnant.  This made the story hard for me to get into at first. I’m not sure why the author chose to write it that way. It really was Part 4 that brought it home for me.  That was when we were finally able to hear Fariq’s voice and understand his heart.  

This book makes you examine the people in your life and see them in a completely different light.  It shows how you can’t ever see into someone’s soul or their thoughts and challenges you to reconsider your assumptions about them.  It makes you consider how you are coming across to the people you love, and how we are given one chance to love unconditionally.

If you have not read this book, I encourage you to get a box of Kleenex and give it a try.  I challenge you not be changed by it!

Thanks so much for reading this post.  Until next time, happy reading!

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Lying in Wait by Liz Nugent
The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living by Meik Wiking