Reviews

My Name is Salma by Fadia Faqir, Fadia Faqir

smartifa's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

qofdnz's review against another edition

4.0

Once you grasp the way in which this book is pieced together it becomes easier to read. It's an incredibly sad story with an ending that left me saddened.

epictetsocrate's review against another edition

3.0

Oile albe împânzeau verzile coline, iar luminile morii solitare pluteau pe oglinda liniştită a râului Exe. Era începutul unei noi zile, dar verdele dealurilor înrourate, albul oilor, cenuşiul cerului, toate mă purtau spre trecutul meu îndepărtat, într-un sat mic şi noroios, pe nume Hima, ascuns printre colinele sărăcăcioase, spre crângurile de măslini de un verde-argintiu, licărind în razele dimineţii. Eram o păstoriţă care îşi mâna oile, cântând din fluier, sub soarele curat, spre rarele petice de iarbă. Soarele englez era timid, se ascundea într-una în spatele norilor care nu se opreau niciodată din plâns. În această perioadă a anului, cătunul se umplea de cămile, cai, vaci, câini, pisici, fluturi şi albine. Caii alergau şi copitele lor stârneau nori de praf în poiana satului. Era primăvară şi începuse deja anotimpul logodnelor. Nunţile se ţineau imediat după strânsul recoltei. Iar eu eram deja coaptă şi gata să fiu culeasă. „Mamă, am văzut luna în noapte”, aşa cântam pentru caprele mele negre şi maronii. „Acolo sus pe cer. Iartă-mă, Allah, căci am păcătuit. Am căzut pradă focului pasiunii.”

bookishreadsandme's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This is a very sad, emotional book that explores honour killings, exile and reinventing yourself to fit in with another culture. Salma is forced to escape from her family when she becomes pregnant out of wedlock and her brother is determined to kill her to retain the family’s honour. 

It is a hard hitting, powerful read and it made my heart ache reading about all the dire situations Salma kept getting into. Whether its being in prison, a detention centre, to living with the trauma of having her child taken away from her. Then to everyday situations like trying to get to grips with British culture. 

The narrative is very erratic and multi-layered constantly switching to different stages in Salma’s life. I did find at first hard to keep track of where exactly Salma was at each point in time. However, I did become accustomed to it and I felt it showed you how her life was not a smooth ride but a jumbled chaos. 

The writing is very colourful with the sights, sounds, tastes and smells that Salma encounters described vividly. 

The ending hit me hard, I was left totally gob smacked and I must admit, I had tears in my eyes. This is not an easy read, and the way Salma constantly longs for her child that was taken from her really touched me. 

My Name Is Salma is about the search for identity. An outcast from her own Arab, Muslim identity and an outsider in a Western world.

cheri_maci's review against another edition

2.0

I wanted to really like this book but the overly descriptive writing style, frequent changes in time (sometimes every paragraph was set in a different time) and lack of character development weighed it down and made it, for me, not a book that I would ever recommend. The book would have been better as a novella than a 300-odd page novel.