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A review by emdawgb
Freshta by Petra Procházková, Julia Sherwood
5.0
In one fell swoop, Freshta packs a strong culturally diverse wallop: written by a Czech journalist and author, and translated into English by a Slovak translator, it tells the story of a woman with Russian and Tajik heritage living with her Afghan husband in post-Taliban Kabul.
Freshta is complicated in that it is a relatively long novel, and far-reaching in its subject matter. However, it is a surprisingly easy read. Herra is a confusing but endearing narrator, and Procházková manages to inject humour, however dark, into even the bleakest of scenes. The diverse and hugely entertaining cast of characters include Mad, a mysterious and deformed young man who seems to appear from nowhere and is often wise far beyond his years; Freshta, the novel’s namesake, a stunning woman desperate to escape her abusive husband; and Heidi, a clueless but well-meaning American aid worker.
Herra does not overtly condemn the oppressive nature of the society she now lives in, despite the fact that she comes from Russia, regarded by other characters in the novel as a Western land of freedom when compared to Afghanistan. Freshta is not a novel that offers easy answers to questions about war, women or the West, but it is a novel that is moving and funny in the most unexpected ways.
Freshta is complicated in that it is a relatively long novel, and far-reaching in its subject matter. However, it is a surprisingly easy read. Herra is a confusing but endearing narrator, and Procházková manages to inject humour, however dark, into even the bleakest of scenes. The diverse and hugely entertaining cast of characters include Mad, a mysterious and deformed young man who seems to appear from nowhere and is often wise far beyond his years; Freshta, the novel’s namesake, a stunning woman desperate to escape her abusive husband; and Heidi, a clueless but well-meaning American aid worker.
Herra does not overtly condemn the oppressive nature of the society she now lives in, despite the fact that she comes from Russia, regarded by other characters in the novel as a Western land of freedom when compared to Afghanistan. Freshta is not a novel that offers easy answers to questions about war, women or the West, but it is a novel that is moving and funny in the most unexpected ways.