“Ingenious… Builds to one of the most memorable final scenes I’ve read in a novel this century.” —The New York TimesWINNER OF THE 2018 WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION FINALIST FOR THE 2019 INTERNATIONAL DUBLIN LITERARY AWARDLONGLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE The suspenseful and heartbreaking story of an immigrant family driven to pit love against loyalty, with devastating consequencesIsma is free. … against loyalty, with devastating consequences
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?
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“Keep the Home Fires Burning,
While your hearts are yearning,
Though your lads are far away
They dream of home.…”
‘Keep the Home-Fires Burning’ is a British patriotic First World War song composed in 1914 by Ivor Novello with words by Lena Guilbert Ford. It has kept running through my head why I have been formulating this review. In a way, it summarizes the entire book because each of the major characters: Isma, Eamonn, Aneeka, Parvaiz and Karamat are each lookingfor “Home”. The ways they may describe it are different, but their definition of safety is what makes this a very brave book.
We have seen all over the news of how British treat second generation non white refugees: those who would hold citizenship by right of birth, but whose parents were not born there. It happens in the US too. We welcome “the huddled masses” to a point…and then argue blame and point fingers. How safe is anyone in this global nexus? That’s the brave question Kamile Shamise posits here, even having Aneeka say it to Eamonn:”You were hope…the world was dark and then there you were, blazing with light. How could anyone fail to not love hope?”. First, she and her siblings lose their immediate family; then she loses her twin, and in trying to reconnect she grasps at hope. Hope means home to her. And Eamonn tries to be his own man while being Karamat’s son, keeping his own counsel as he matures; finding his own way.
I know this is a cryptic review, but it’s not an easy read. The book is as modern as the next news cycle and as ancient as the first sibling death in history. Shamise’s work is as uncomfortable as it may be hopeful. Highly recommended. 5/5
[I received this book as a gift so it does not register as a verified purchase. I have chosen to read/review it]