This delightful collection of short stories offers insight into the lives of Syrian women, both the married and the brides-to-be. It reveals the warmth and humor as well as the oppression in the Syrian society. The stories make the reader laugh while addressing serious issues such as domestic violence.Um Hussam can’t find a suitable bride for her son, testing each candidate’s sight, hearing and … hearing and reading skills, occasionally cobbing a feel. Jamila’s husband Hassan can’t forget his deceased wife, until she makes sure he never mentions her again. Rami can’t help but wonder whether his new bride is a natural beauty or a talented surgeon’s masterpiece. Khadija’s maid stabs her in the back while Rana’s husband Muafak can’t find the right excuse to avoid a fight.
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I chose this book because I love reading about other cultures. Short stories about married women and brides to be were definitely something I could relate to. I expected a mixture of stories about different types of marriages. I expected some of those to be heavy topics and possibly hard to read. What I got was a delightful surprise! Yes, they were stories of marriages and some covered heavy topics. What was surprising was the humor they were told with! The voices in this book made me feel like I was listening to wise women talk of marriage. I would love to go into detail about the stories and talk about the lessons to be learned from them but to do so would ruin it for you. This book is filled with short story gems.
There are some Arabian words but at the back of the book, in the section titled Endnotes, you will find a dictionary. To me the words added a rich flavor. I enjoyed learning them.
This is a book I would recommend to friends who enjoy different cultures, to those who are interested in woman’s studies, as well those who just enjoy entertaining stories of life.
Thank you to The Review Crew and the author for providing an ecopy for reviewing. My review is voluntary. I enjoyed this book so much I purchased the Kindle version.
Very well written. An entertaining peek into the lives of Syrian women.
Absolutely wonderful! A must read. So poetic yet real. I read this in three hours! Could not stop! This new author will be a great one! This book exceeded all my expectations! READ THIS BOOK!!!I would give it ten stars of I could!
What an enjoyable and interesting set of stories! I’m generally not a fan of short stories; the necessarily abbreviated characterization usually leaves me feeling like I’m missing out on something and the plot suffers for me as a result. These stories read more like Aesop’s fables or anecdotal gossipy tales between friends though, and I enjoyed them for that.
Each offers an insightful lesson at the end; I must admit that I didn’t always see the connection between the “lesson” and the tale, but even when I didn’t, the tales AND lessons were worth reading. I particularly enjoyed the snarkier tales, in which comeuppance was delivered to the deserving. By mixing up the “heroes” and “villains” of the pieces, Halabi did an excellent job exploring the intricacies of familial and marital relationships.
Her ability to blend humor, violence, and wit made the tales more than just morality lessons and offered a lovely insight into a culture that is rich in color and flavor – much of which is unknown (or unacknowledged) in the West. The collection offers a chance to rectify that, and does it with a light touch that I found enjoyable and engaging, even when the subject matter was heavy.
It was an enjoyable read, and I thank the author for introducing it to me and offering me an obligation-free review copy.
4 stars for a series of light enjoyable stories that deal with life in Syria through the eyes of various brides, some in search of a husband, some engaged, some recently married and more. These stories deal with issues found worldwide, but with a Syrian cultural perspective. Among other things, there is one wife’s response to domestic violence which involves a miracle and watermelon. Each story has a proverb at the end of the story, as in:
“None but a noble man treats women in an honorable manner, and none but an ignorant treats women disgracefully.–Hadith”
I found the language to be very colorful, especially when one character is describing someone that they want to flatter, as in:
“How elegantly she walks, like an Arabian princess! Dance barefoot on my grave will you!”
Conversely, someone that a character does not like, as in a prosepctive bride that a mother decided was not suitable for her son:
“That one had a hunchback like a bear and she wobbled like a walrus.”
The author has a dedication to “all the strong Syrian women, enduring battles– at home and at war in their homeland.”
This is the only reference to the Syrian civil war. The author bio states that she immigrated to Germany in 1999. The stories are based on her personal experiences and those of family and friends.
Thank You Anna Halabi for sending me this delightful eBook. I recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about Syrian culture and family life.
Admittedly, this is not a book I would have picked up on my own right now and yet I’m so glad the author graciously provided a review copy in exchange for an honest review. A collection of short stories illustrating the everyday life of married women in Aleppo, Syria, Syrian Brides was a quick, humorous read with stories that still elicit a smile when I think about them. Each story was around the length of a chapter and standalone which made it easy to pick up in between tasks like dinner, baby wrangling, and nap time.
I would not have guessed this was a debut for author Anna Halabi. I enjoyed the short little snippets and was fascinated by the intricacies of a culture so different from my own. Um Hussam was an outrageous character. I was caught between uproarious laughter and mortification when she suggested she needed to grope a bridal candidate to ensure the girl had all her original parts. I’m still cracking up as I think about it. I’m so very glad my MIL didn’t cop a feel during our first time meeting. My favorite story was “Nobody’s Wife” which featured an unknown female that outfoxes two businessmen.
I was so thankful for the handy endnotes that contained definitions for the terms I was not familiar with. I think I would have preferred reading this work and others like it in print so I had access to footnotes on the pages so I didn’t have to confuse my kindle by flipping back and forth.
I feel like the end story could have had more of an impact with more time to develop and show the relationship between Nawal and her husband Bilal. I wanted to be shown why she was so completely ready to give up her husband. The overarching concept of the story resonates beyond just Syrian marriages and I really appreciated the ending.
If anything, I felt most of the stories could have been longer and I truly mean that as a compliment. I would love to read even a novella or full-length novel to see Anna’s colorful characters develop and grow to their full potential. I would even enjoy reading about a character like Um Hussam in a series of connected short stories featuring her bridal search antics similar to Helene Tursten’s An Elderly Lady Up To No Good. Bottom line, I found this book to be very entertaining and I will be keeping an eye out for her work in the future.