I did not know what to expect with this book. I almost quit near the beginning. I just couldn’t handle reading another book right now about a woman in a horrifying abusive marriage — and this book has, like, five of those. Glad I kept going.
The opening chapters about being born mute (unable to speak) were such a good intro to being closed off through a family and community culture that considers you an irrelevant burden. Having no opinion. Being worthy of nothing. Silence and service is the only path forward, and even then, it will be a difficult and painful one.
This book does a great job of setting up potential “saviors” for its characters (who then fail to save) so the women can learn to step up. I was surprised by its perspective on Islam and its honest opinion that its structures and teachings are dangerous to women, not because I hadn’t heard it before, but because it seems like an unpopular opinion to have — and books with politically incorrect opinions are hard to publish. Good for Etaf. And interestingly, women’s coverings are often presented in a positive light. For all the focus that some Americans may put on the female coverings as backwards or sexist, for someone like Isra, constantly enduring sexual abuse, physical violence, threats, an extreme sexist culture, and verbal belittling, wearing some extra fabric is not the biggest concern (and could even provide a feeling of safety).
This book has multiple timelines across generations, and therefore several compelling and surprising reveals. The crown jewel is the last chapter. I was blown away. I guess I should have seen the ending coming, in retrospect, but I simply did not. I LOVED it. I don’t want to give it away, but I definitely didn’t think ending with a death I already knew about (due to the crossing timelines) could be so empowering. FanTASic ending.
Memorably, this book does a great job of refusing bitterness. While allowing for anger, defiance, depression, even — it does not descend to the seething teeth-clenching that makes it hard to love and connect with a character (no matter what abuse they have endured). While being real about the mental health toll of enduring this cultural lifestyle, the book still leaves you with a sense of promise that small changes can and do happen, even at great cost.
