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sofia_reading 's review for:
The Kashmir Shawl
by Rosie Thomas
Finished this book last night. I'd really been looking forward to reading this for my book club's read this month as its been nominated before and I've heard a lot of praise for it, plus it's rating on Goodreads is quite high. Sadly though, I think I might have missed something!
The first couple of chapters were really laborious. I wasn't connecting or engaging with any of the characters. It starts off in Wales, and intertwines with Kashmir. I lived in Wales for a few years and I'm of Kashmiri heritage. This book still failed to connect with me! So there's this girl called Mair who discovers her grandma's exquisite Shawl from Kashmir and it sets her off on a journey of discovery to uncover the story of her long deceased grandma, Nerys who'd lived in British occupied Kashmir as part of her and her husband's Missionary work. Around about chapter three or four, Nerys makes a proper entrance and she's about the only character I really felt intrigued by. What choices would she make? I was genuinely interested, but also woefully able to predict every single one. Boring! Then there was her friendship with Mrytle and the annoying/pathetic Caroline. That was kind of cute to read about. But here's the real stickler for me.....there are NO KASHMIRI main players to the story. Ok, maybe there's one, kind of, Ravi something or other, and even then he's a spoiled rich little tyrant. Almost an archetypal oriental bad guy. Opulent, rich, tall, dark, smooth, silver tongued, hunky, bad guy -think Jafar from Aladdin, but good looking. Not only that, trust me you will learn NOTHING about Kashmir and it's struggles from this book. You will just learn of the frivolous and criminally lavish lifestyles of British occupiers of Kashmir, while Kashmir itself remains a benign, if not sometimes tragic/backwards backdrops to the story. This is such a let down because I love historical fiction precisely because I've been enriched by so many previously.
The ending felt rushed and super predictable too. I just don't understand why so many people liked this book. I gave it 2 stars on Goodreads: one for Nerys (I liked the old girl) and one for the author's efforts to research the intricate Kashmir Shawl making process .
The first couple of chapters were really laborious. I wasn't connecting or engaging with any of the characters. It starts off in Wales, and intertwines with Kashmir. I lived in Wales for a few years and I'm of Kashmiri heritage. This book still failed to connect with me! So there's this girl called Mair who discovers her grandma's exquisite Shawl from Kashmir and it sets her off on a journey of discovery to uncover the story of her long deceased grandma, Nerys who'd lived in British occupied Kashmir as part of her and her husband's Missionary work. Around about chapter three or four, Nerys makes a proper entrance and she's about the only character I really felt intrigued by. What choices would she make? I was genuinely interested, but also woefully able to predict every single one. Boring! Then there was her friendship with Mrytle and the annoying/pathetic Caroline. That was kind of cute to read about. But here's the real stickler for me.....there are NO KASHMIRI main players to the story. Ok, maybe there's one, kind of, Ravi something or other, and even then he's a spoiled rich little tyrant. Almost an archetypal oriental bad guy. Opulent, rich, tall, dark, smooth, silver tongued, hunky, bad guy -think Jafar from Aladdin, but good looking. Not only that, trust me you will learn NOTHING about Kashmir and it's struggles from this book. You will just learn of the frivolous and criminally lavish lifestyles of British occupiers of Kashmir, while Kashmir itself remains a benign, if not sometimes tragic/backwards backdrops to the story. This is such a let down because I love historical fiction precisely because I've been enriched by so many previously.
The ending felt rushed and super predictable too. I just don't understand why so many people liked this book. I gave it 2 stars on Goodreads: one for Nerys (I liked the old girl) and one for the author's efforts to research the intricate Kashmir Shawl making process .