Where I share my love of books with reviews, features, giveaways and memes. Family and needlepoint are thrown in from time to time.
Showing posts with label Nadia Hashimi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nadia Hashimi. Show all posts

Sunday, February 28, 2021

Book Review: The Pearl That Broke It's Shell by Nadia Hashimi


 Title: The Pearl that Broke It's Shell

Author: Nadia Hashimi

Genre: Historical Fiction

About the Book: 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-aunt, 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? (from Goodreads)

My thoughts: I am not sure whose story I liked better, Rahima's or Shekiba's.  After they grew up and married, the stories were so similar it was hard to believe there was a century in between them.  Things had changed so little for women in Afghanistan during that span of time, depending on where you were born and raised. This book taught me alot about women in Afghanistan, how they are treated and what they do to survive. Rahimi and Shekibi were both very strong to survive the things they did and once I was finished with the book, the title was very fitting.  This was one of my five star reads for the month. 

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...