'A Woman Is No Man' by Etaf Rum is a heart-wrenching novel that delves into the lives of three generations of Palestinian women living in Brooklyn. The story revolves around the struggles faced by these women in breaking free from the oppressive cultural norms and abusive relationships they are trapped in. Through shifting viewpoints, the author paints a vivid picture of the challenges these women endure, from arranged marriages to domestic abuse, while also highlighting themes of resilience, strength, and the desire for individual freedom.
The narrative of 'A Woman Is No Man' unfolds through the voices of different family members, spanning across time frames and generations. It explores the themes of cultural pressure, family traditions, and the complexities of women's roles within the Palestinian community. The author, Etaf Rum, skillfully weaves together a tale of sacrifice, duty, and the quest for autonomy, shedding light on the emotional turmoil and struggles faced by these women as they navigate between their heritage and their desire for independence.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Content warnings include themes of domestic violence, abuse, and mental health issues, which may be distressing for some readers.
From The Publisher:
The New York Times bestseller and Read with Jenna TODAY SHOW Book Club pick telling the story of three generations of Palestinian-American women struggling to express their individual desires within the confines of their Arab culture in the wake of shocking intimate violence in their community.
A GOODREADS CHOICE AWARDS FINALIST FOR BEST FICTION AND BEST DEBUT
BOOKBROWE'S BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
A MARIE CLAIRE BEST WOMEN'S FICTION OF THE YEAR
A REAL SIMPLE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
A POPSUGAR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR ALL WRITTEN BY FEMALES
A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice
A Washington Post 10 Books to Read in March
A Newsweek Best Book of the Summer
A USA Today Best Book of the Week
A Washington Book Review Difficult-To-Put-Down Novel
A Refinery 29 Best Books of the Month
A Buzzfeed News 4 Books We Couldn't Put Down Last Month
A New Arab Best Books by Arab Authors
An Electric Lit 20 Best Debuts of the First Half of 2019
A The Millions Most Anticipated Books of 2019
"Garnering justified comparisons to Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns... Etaf Rum's debut novel is a must-read about women mustering up the bravery to follow their inner voice." -Refinery 29
"Where I come from, we've learned to silence ourselves. We've been taught that silence will save us. Where I come from, we keep these stories to ourselves. To tell them to the outside world is unheard of-dangerous, the ultimate shame."
Palestine, 1990. Seventeen-year-old Isra prefers reading books to entertaining the suitors her father has chosen for her. Over the course of a week, the naïve and dreamy girl finds herself quickly betrothed and married, and is soon living in Brooklyn. There Isra struggles to adapt to the expectations of her oppressive mother-in-law Fareeda and strange new husband Adam, a pressure that intensifies as she begins to have children-four daughters instead of the sons Fareeda tells Isra she must bear.
Brooklyn, 2008. Eighteen-year-old Deya, Isra's oldest daughter, must meet with potential husbands at her grandmother Fareeda's insistence, though her only desire is to go to college. Deya can't help but wonder if her options would have been different had her parents survived the car crash that killed them when Deya was only eight. But her grandmother is firm on the matter: the only way to secure a worthy future for Deya is through marriage to the right man.
But fate has a will of its own, and soon Deya will find herself on an unexpected path that leads her to shocking truths about her family-knowledge that will force her to question everything she thought she knew about her parents, the past, and her own future.
Ratings (13)
Incredible (7) | |
Loved It (3) | |
Liked It (1) | |
It Was OK (1) | |
Hated It (1) |
Reader Stats (44):
Read It (13) | |
Want To Read (25) | |
Not Interested (6) |
3 comment(s)
I really enjoyed this book and the different perspectives in chapters. Was interesting learning about the lives of some muslim women and there family dynamics.
It’s going to take me a little while to write an adequate review. For now, all I have to say was this book was captivating, beautifully written. I loved it, and yet enraged me. I don’t know much about the Islamic culture, but if this book reflects how this culture oppresses women, then I’m stunned. Maybe it’s ethnocentric of me to be appalled by this culture’s treatment of women. I just can’t understand how this culture is so behind in gender equality. All the women (but mostly Fareeda) were so concerned with what their neighbors would think. They were so afraid of bringing shame upon the family. Yet, what was actually happening behind this family’s four walls brings more shame than any of the things Fareeda was so fixated. I can’t wait to read more from this author. I want to learn more about cultures I know little about.
I loved the book despite the heartache and despair of many of the characters. It is a beautiful story of the resilience and strength of women and how they prevail despite of or because of their circumstances. It is hard to read at times because of how the author portrays the disparity in how women and men are treated in Palestinian culture. For instance, it shows how women received less education than men and were expected to stay at home, often not leaving their homes for long periods. Even though this book is about Palestine and its immigrant community in Brooklyn, the application is universal as this is a common story in many cultures - the disparity between how society treats men and women and the prevalence of domestic violence. These are issues that deserve attention and need to be revealed.
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A Woman Is No Man?
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