Reviews

Home of the Floating Lily by Silmy Abdullah

jess_mango's review

4.0

Traveling back and forth between Bangladesh and Canada, Home of the Floating Lily tells the stories of 8 different women each trying to find her way. Many of them are looking for a sense of self and community. They want to feel like they matter and that they belong. These stories were sad in parts and touching in others.

I recommend this collection to fans of immigrant stories and #ownvoices literature.

Thank you to the publisher for the review copy!

kleonard's review

5.0

This is a collection of beautifully-written stories about not just Bangladeshi families, women, and life, but also about selfishness, the desire for independence, the results of poor communication, cultural expectations, and religion and its pressures. I found myself truly hating some characters and feeling sympathy for others; I wanted to tell characters to go talk things out and I wanted others to take action. This would be ab excellent book for city-wide reads and book clubs of all kinds.

annetjeberg's review

5.0

Such a wonderful collection of stories of Bangladeshi immigrants in Canada. Truly enjoyed them all!

lilyreads01's review

4.0

Home of the Floating Lily by Silmy Abdullah is a beautiful collection of stories that follow individuals and immigrant families who travel and live in both Canada and Bangladesh. It examines the complex issues of migration, family, displacement, love, conflict, culture and survival. Each story is an engrossing facet of a greater story and theme of belonging, identity and endurance. I felt a connection to each story within moments and was immersed in the narrative including a mother whose sons defy her expectations only to discover something richer, a woman who travels to Toronto and discovers a secret sediment layer in her husband’s past, and a mother and daughter whose lives are fractured when a secret is exposed only to find a deeper connection. An intimate exploration of love and belonging I would definitely look out for future books from this writer.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a review copy of this book in exchange for honest feedback.

nuhafariha's review

5.0

Thank you to Dundurn Press and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!

Available July 20 2021

Reading Silmy Abdullah's Home of the Floating Lily is like going for summer vacation in my aunt's apartment in Toronto, CA. I can almost breath the air tinged with fresh chotpoti and oily curries, hear my aunties gossiping while the men go outside for their cigarettes, see the many colorful Bengali fabric stores that line the avenues. Abdullah's short stories perfectly capture the experiences of Bengali immigrant life. Told in first and third person, the vignettes delicately explore the nuances of class and gender priviledge as women navigate jobs, marriages and family.

username_1234_'s review

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

wesleyrose's review

4.0

This book was selected for the University of Guelph’s Gryphons Reads program in 2022. I had the opportunity to act as a book club facilitator for the program. I heard Silmy speak several times, which made me love this book more.

Home of the Floating Lily is a collection of short stories about the different Bangladeshi immigrant experiences in Toronto, Canada and Bangladesh. The details in these stories paint a beautiful picture filled with culture and family. However, the themes in the stories are sometimes darker. Silmy makes these stories realistic, with logical twists yet still unexpected.

It took me about 15 minutes to pick a favourite story because I genuinely enjoyed them all. My favourite story was Familiar Journey. This story was filled with something that humans do so much, which is assumptions. I felt for the character Shaila when she felt she had to change/hide her identity for her sense of safety and peace.

I liked All the Adjustments because I love the theme of learning from each other, especially when traversing something new or unknown. It also reminded me that we don’t always know what’s going on in someone else’s mind. And that sometimes love needs space to blossom.

The Middle Path and Home of the Floating Lily also touches on the need for space. In these stories, it’s more so space from families to find out who they are. And if you are open and loving, and accepting, that relationship can be rekindled. In Home of the Floating Lily, it also showed me that your family doesn’t necessarily need to be blood.

Lastly, the story Reflection was poignant because it starts in such turmoil in a beautiful setting, which offsets each other nicely. It ends on a very hopeful note, which I enjoyed in a story about an arranged marriage.

I loved reading these stories, and I honestly can’t wait for what Silmy has in store next!

anneke_b's review

5.0

Such a wonderful collection of stories of Bangladeshi immigrants in Canada. Truly enjoyed them all!

salatanita's review

5.0

What a great collection of short stories! Beautiful writing about family, friendship, love, commitment and a lot more from the lives of Bangladeshi immigrants in Canada. Eight separate stories, each with a different flavour, yet the people in them seem like old friends or relatives living in the same neighbourhood.

This book is coming out in July 2021. I am grateful for NetGalley and Dundurn Press for an Advance Reading Copy.

auntrurah's review

5.0

Loved these stories. I will look for the author in the future.