A Place For Us by Fatima Farheen Miza
(Format used for this book: Audiobook)
This novel was heartbreaking and heartwarming all at the same time…stories about families usually are….because in real life families are exactly a bizarre mix of those things.
Here is a summary:
“As an Indian wedding gathers a family back together, parents Rafiq and Layla must reckon with the choices their children have made. There is Hadia: their headstrong, eldest daughter, whose marriage is a match of love and not tradition. Huda, the middle child, determined to follow in her sister’s footsteps. And lastly, their estranged son, Amar, who returns to the family fold for the first time in three years to take his place as brother of the bride. What secrets and betrayals have caused this close-knit family to fracture? Can Amar find his way back to the people who know and love him best?
A Place for Us takes us back to the beginning of this family’s life: from the bonds that bring them together, to the differences that pull them apart. All the joy and struggle of family life is here, from Rafiq and Layla’s own arrival in America from India, to the years in which their children—each in their own way—tread between two cultures, seeking to find their place in the world, as well as a path home.
A Place for Us is a book for our times: an astonishingly tender-hearted novel of identity and belonging, and a resonant portrait of what it means to be an American family today. It announces Fatima Farheen Mirza as a major new literary talent.”
This story follows all the members that make up this Indian American family: a mother, father, two sisters and a brother.
It is not just told thru one of their lenses, but thru all of them…something I always value in a novel.
All the influences that make up an individuals personality and world outlook—faith, culture, gender expectations, societal influence—not only have an effect on a singular person but also on family dynamics.
This story talks about love, loss, pain, joy, sorrow, regret and hope….and also things like marriage, addiction, death, sibling rivalry and immigration.
Not just in how one person experiences these things, but also how communities of people experience these things collectively.
Even though this family experiences many things together, how everything effects each one of them is drastically different and the author dives into each persons motivations and emotions.
I appreciated learning of the different customs and traditions in the Muslim faith and the Indian community….not only pertaining to familial roles and religious practices but also things like the treasured tradition of marriage ceremonies as well as funerals.
I loved each character even thru their struggles, imperfections and failures…and I think that is exactly how they felt about each other even if at times they did not know how to express it.
You will cry big tears reading this book but it’s worth it.
This novel reminded me that love for our family is never uncomplicated…but always fierce. ❤️