Scan barcode
A review by egelantier
The World Unseen by Shamim Sarif
4.0
fried green tomatoes (that's an inescapable reference, so let's get it out of the way at once) set during the beginning of apartheid in south africa. amina is an unconventional, rebellious young lesbian indian woman who set herself apart from the indian community in pretoria, who lives her life the way she wants to; miriam is a quiet, demure woman trapped in a loveless arranged marriage with a cold, abusive man. when they meet, their life is going to change.
the book is, in fact, less about their relationship - the book ends suddenly and doesn't really resolve the questions it sets - and more about place and time they inhabit; the changing social mores, the indian community within south africa, pervasive social issues, misogyny and racism and complexities of people trying to survive either. i loved the quiet, evocative, matter-of-fact language, and i liked the characters, and it resonated weirdly for me with праздничная гора, but i would've loved for it to have more answers for amina and miriam, maybe.
(there's also, apparently, a movie directed by the author herself).
the book is, in fact, less about their relationship - the book ends suddenly and doesn't really resolve the questions it sets - and more about place and time they inhabit; the changing social mores, the indian community within south africa, pervasive social issues, misogyny and racism and complexities of people trying to survive either. i loved the quiet, evocative, matter-of-fact language, and i liked the characters, and it resonated weirdly for me with праздничная гора, but i would've loved for it to have more answers for amina and miriam, maybe.
(there's also, apparently, a movie directed by the author herself).