A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum Review

A Woman It is centres around 17 year old woman Isra coming from Palestine to join her new husband’s family in Brooklyn following their arranged marriage.   One narrative strand is Isra’s story in the early 1990s; it follows her starting a family. One of the narrative strands is of her first daughter Deya in 2008 at age 18years old; in fact  it the daughter’s  narrative that starts the book with a strong first sentence:

“I was born without a voice, one cold overcast day in Brooklyn, New York

The third narrative in the book is Isra’s Mother in law. All three women are considered subordinate to men within their Arabic culture, hence the book’s title.. Considering Deya’s story is set in 2008, it is shocking that theses attitudes prevail. I recognise this is just one story and there will be thousands of families that are a lot more progressive than this one. I loved hearing a perspective that I have never heard before.

This book was meant to be a book club book but we will not be able to meet physically and have not yet worked out logistics to meet virtual. Have you read the book; what would you want to discuss about it at a book club?

Author: wonderwall360blog

So many wonders of the world to write about on my blog wall. I'm an Oasis fan hence using wondewall as blog name.

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