The Pearl That Broke Its Shell

Nadia Hashimi's debut novel is a strong work that explores the lives of two Afghani women who lived a hundred years apart. Both women, for different reasons, participate in a Afghan tradition, bacha posh of dressing a daughter as a boy when there are no sons. The novel tackles the issues of child marriage, abuse, discord between women of a household (second, third, and fourth wives as well as mother-in-laws), opium abuse, warlords, corruption, and the impact of war and invasion on everyday people. The focus is on the burden on women in the society and the split narratives show how little conditions for women have changed.

What is interesting is that the portrayal of Rahima is not a story of someone living under the radical Taliban beliefs, but of the more traditional Afghan society. Her great-great-grandmother, Shekiba's world is that of the monarchy. One can see how despite the changes in government, little has changed for women.

Hashimi's language is beautiful at times but the world she paints is bleak, full of loss and struggle. There is strength in many the women who exist in the novel but it creates a bitterness that they often take out on each other and leaves the reader with a sense of anger and a desire for them to turn that bitterness and anger on the men who have built this dreadful world they inhabit.

The two women's stories end differently, but for me it is Rahima's that falls short. It felt rushed and almost anti-climactic. Granted, at 450 pages, it was time to end it, but there was room for editing earlier on that could have left more space to do her story justice in the ending. It wasn't a bad ending in terms of where it left the reader, rather a poorly paced ending that lost the potential impact of a better structured and written ending.

Despite the rush at the end, the novel is worth the read for the insights into a world few westerners can fathom. It is through novels that we can develop empathy for those who live a life so different from our own.

This was a phenomal book that was worth every page. I was hooked from the very beginning and it kept my attention throughout. I did go through a wave of emotions while reading this however, as the author does a really good job at portraying the ugliness that these women, young and old experienced. That was tough so do be prepared. But the story was beautifully written and woven together just right.

For the ending,I read plenty of reviews prior to my read and was anticipating the ending to be terrible. Truth is, I actually enjoyed how the author ended things. I finished this book feeling hopeful dreaming that both characters had positive outcomes in the end. I don’t think the author needed to spell that out in details.

Overall I was pleased.

Well written, entrancing story. A must read ❤️