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A review by osteoknits
Bone and Bread by Saleema Nawaz
5.0
In continuing my goal to read all five finalists for the Canada Reads contest, Bone and Bread was the third of the five that I read. At the time that I started the book, Canada Reads had already aired and I had watched the debates. This book was knocked out in the second round and I honestly think it should have made it further than it did.
Bone and Bread is about two sisters; Beena and Sadhana; children of a Sikh owner of a bagel shop and a white hippy mother. The girls suffer unbelievable tragedy, becoming orphaned as teenagers and continuously being faced with various obstacles.
The story follows Beena’s perspective after Sadhana has passed away. Eventually after putting it off for months, she has to empty her sister’s apartment. It is as she takes on this task that we get glimpses into their difficult past, as you would expect while unpacking boxes and revisiting old memories.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Personally, I saw so many parallels in my relationship with my brother and dealing with his own struggles with mental illness. I think what I appreciated about the book was its realness. People don’t always act rationally, they don’t always say the right thing. They make mistakes, sometimes they’re jerks, and that’s reality. It made me appreciate how fleeting life can be and want to treat the end of any conversation as if those might be the last words I say to that person. So far it is my favourite of the 2015 Canada Reads finalists. I loved the characters, and I really hope this isn’t the last we hear of Saleema Nawaz.
Bone and Bread is about two sisters; Beena and Sadhana; children of a Sikh owner of a bagel shop and a white hippy mother. The girls suffer unbelievable tragedy, becoming orphaned as teenagers and continuously being faced with various obstacles.
The story follows Beena’s perspective after Sadhana has passed away. Eventually after putting it off for months, she has to empty her sister’s apartment. It is as she takes on this task that we get glimpses into their difficult past, as you would expect while unpacking boxes and revisiting old memories.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Personally, I saw so many parallels in my relationship with my brother and dealing with his own struggles with mental illness. I think what I appreciated about the book was its realness. People don’t always act rationally, they don’t always say the right thing. They make mistakes, sometimes they’re jerks, and that’s reality. It made me appreciate how fleeting life can be and want to treat the end of any conversation as if those might be the last words I say to that person. So far it is my favourite of the 2015 Canada Reads finalists. I loved the characters, and I really hope this isn’t the last we hear of Saleema Nawaz.