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A review by serendipitysbooks
Yummah by Sarah A. Al Shafei
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
3.0
Yummah is the story of Khadeeja, a Bahraini woman, following her from the age of twelve through to the end of her life. The opening section was quite affecting. One day Khadeeja was happily playing with her doll, the next she was married. The contrast between the two, her pain at not being allowed to take her doll when she went to see her husband for the first time, really highlighted her sudden shift from child to woman. Against the odds the marriage seemed to have been happy, although there were sorrows including miscarriages and the loss of a son to a scorpion bite. But then one day her husband Mohammed disappeared leaving her with eight, soon to be nine, children to raise.
While this is a perfectly fine story of a woman who overcame the odds and lived a happy life despite being abandoned by her husband it fell a little short for me. It did a lot of telling rather than showing and in some ways seemed more plot driven than character driven. I feel like I never truly knew or understood Khadeeja. I’m not sure if this is a problem with the writing or due to a lack of imagination or cultural understanding on my part. While the story told me what Khadeeja did it all too often failed to take me into her heart and mind. I wanted to share her life rather than merely witnessing it.
While this is a perfectly fine story of a woman who overcame the odds and lived a happy life despite being abandoned by her husband it fell a little short for me. It did a lot of telling rather than showing and in some ways seemed more plot driven than character driven. I feel like I never truly knew or understood Khadeeja. I’m not sure if this is a problem with the writing or due to a lack of imagination or cultural understanding on my part. While the story told me what Khadeeja did it all too often failed to take me into her heart and mind. I wanted to share her life rather than merely witnessing it.