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amberacks12's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I’m still processing this book. And I think I will be for a long time. This book is about so many generations of people whose varying life circumstances work together to weave the tapestry that is the little village of Al Awafi in an Oman that is rapidly changing and modernizing whether it’s people want it or not.
The characters and their struggles were compelling, the complicated family lives were fascinating, and I especially loved the elements of likability and unlikability within each character, making everyone feel like real people.
This is one book that exemplifies why I love reading translated fiction, and why I need to read more of it. This book does not pander to a western audience.
The ins and out of the ways this Omani culture exists is not explained to someone who is unfamiliar. The relationships between family members, spouses, tribes and bedouins, the mentally ill, men and women, mothers and daughters, and yes, even slaves and the families they are in servitude to: all of this is not explained, and it is all different than how I as an American have come to expect, and this book just throws you into the middle of it, expecting you to understand.
I felt like a child trying to understand an adult’s conversation. But that’s also why I loved it.
Enjoyability: 4
Emotional impact: 4
Educational value: 5
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The characters and their struggles were compelling, the complicated family lives were fascinating, and I especially loved the elements of likability and unlikability within each character, making everyone feel like real people.
This is one book that exemplifies why I love reading translated fiction, and why I need to read more of it. This book does not pander to a western audience.
The ins and out of the ways this Omani culture exists is not explained to someone who is unfamiliar. The relationships between family members, spouses, tribes and bedouins, the mentally ill, men and women, mothers and daughters, and yes, even slaves and the families they are in servitude to: all of this is not explained, and it is all different than how I as an American have come to expect, and this book just throws you into the middle of it, expecting you to understand.
I felt like a child trying to understand an adult’s conversation. But that’s also why I loved it.
Enjoyability: 4
Emotional impact: 4
Educational value: 5
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Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Slavery and Pregnancy
Minor: Mental illness
year23's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
It would have helped to have some time/date stamps to the chapters and provide a family tree at the top. It is near impossible to know what time period each story is in until you start piecing it together - but given how many characters and stories are being told, you would need to take notes to do so. The book also shifts between first and third person narration - it's confusing but I also wonder if that's intentional on the author's part.
Despite the confusion, there is clearly a compelling story here - multiple stories, from individuals growing up, navigating life amidst the culture of Oman. It's strange to say this story is about just the three sisters - it's also about their partners, and children. In addition to exploring the struggles of women in this society, it's also sharing about the life of men in Oman, the traumas they commit as well as the challenges they face due to patriarchal/cultural expectations.
The strength of the writing and new to me perspective and learning about life in Oman may have me reading this at another time when I can really sit with it and piece it together better. I do recommend - but just with some caveats to be mindful that there will be some confusion, but even with that, worth the investment.
Despite the confusion, there is clearly a compelling story here - multiple stories, from individuals growing up, navigating life amidst the culture of Oman. It's strange to say this story is about just the three sisters - it's also about their partners, and children. In addition to exploring the struggles of women in this society, it's also sharing about the life of men in Oman, the traumas they commit as well as the challenges they face due to patriarchal/cultural expectations.
The strength of the writing and new to me perspective and learning about life in Oman may have me reading this at another time when I can really sit with it and piece it together better. I do recommend - but just with some caveats to be mindful that there will be some confusion, but even with that, worth the investment.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Classism
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