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A review by mariahistryingtoread
The Pearl That Broke Its Shell by Nadia Hashimi
3.0
I'm really behind on the Asian-Read-A-Thon, but I don't care. The books I chose are interesting any month, and I still want to participate so here I am. I chose this one as the most basic requirement - Read a book by an asian author.
The book tells the story of Rahima, a young Afghan woman who uses the custom of bacha posh - dressing like a boy until puberty makes it impossible to keep up the facade - in order to make money and run errands for her family because her father is a drug addicted soldier indebted to the reining warlord. It is interspersed with a story her aunt tells her about her great-aunt Shekiba who posed as a man as part of the King's guard for his harem.
First off, this book is not split narrative as the summary suggests. It's mostly Rahima's story with Shekiba underlying it. It's just a framing device instead of a fully realized part of the book. The only thing they have in common is the fact that both had to act like boys for a period of their life to get by. The theme seems to be that women have to suffer within their society for a variety of reasons and that's it? Originally I believed Shekiba would provide insight into Rahima's struggles, but there was a distinct lack of a real thematic purpose. Both were interesting, however, Rahima being largely the focal point it would have functioned better overall if Shekiba was a one chapter affair or not included at all. Rahima could have still been inspired by Shekiba without the attempt to flesh Shekiba's story out unnecessarily.
The point of the book overall seemed to be to shed some light on the plight of Afghan women spanning generations. To a point, Nadia Hashimi did succeed. I've read books in a similar vein before so I wasn't shocked by some of the unfortunate realities presented, but there was some additional aspects I hadn't considered that I appreciated reading about. Yet, it also lacked a lot of depth.
For something that is supposed to be central to the entire book, it totally glosses over the years Rahima and Shekiba spend as boys. There is barely any discussion of everyday life and in Rahima's case the threat of being found out or the social ramifications are downplayed immensely. It's like one chapter her aunt gets the idea, and then the next one it's suddenly been four years and everything goes down the drain. It undermines a lot of the contrast between the freedom of being a boy vs being a girl when there is so little detail about what being a boy entails. This continues throughout the entire book. Concepts are touched on only to never go deeper than the surface. And the characters suffer for it. None of the characters are treated as 3 dimensional people. They serve a specific purpose within the story and there motivations or backstories are relative to that functionality.
The last third of the book is severely underwhelming. I was super invested because it felt like we were building to something and then it stalls right before the good part. I didn't expect some sweeping change, but it was so rushed. I know that Rahima is young, and her situation was mostly inescapable anyways, but she didn't have any motivation or fire to really get me on her side. It was mostly just sympathy for her circumstances. In this way Shekiba was a lot stronger. And without any character development for the supporting cast it felt really anti-climactic. It was an ambiguous ending which definitely can work. it just didn't work in this case.
This book is bittersweet. I spent most of it desperately racing through it, hoping it would have an ending I could live with, and while it was okay the journey there, in hindsight, was disappointing.
It's like a toss up between 3 to 3.5 stars.
The book tells the story of Rahima, a young Afghan woman who uses the custom of bacha posh - dressing like a boy until puberty makes it impossible to keep up the facade - in order to make money and run errands for her family because her father is a drug addicted soldier indebted to the reining warlord. It is interspersed with a story her aunt tells her about her great-aunt Shekiba who posed as a man as part of the King's guard for his harem.
First off, this book is not split narrative as the summary suggests. It's mostly Rahima's story with Shekiba underlying it. It's just a framing device instead of a fully realized part of the book. The only thing they have in common is the fact that both had to act like boys for a period of their life to get by. The theme seems to be that women have to suffer within their society for a variety of reasons and that's it? Originally I believed Shekiba would provide insight into Rahima's struggles, but there was a distinct lack of a real thematic purpose. Both were interesting, however, Rahima being largely the focal point it would have functioned better overall if Shekiba was a one chapter affair or not included at all. Rahima could have still been inspired by Shekiba without the attempt to flesh Shekiba's story out unnecessarily.
The point of the book overall seemed to be to shed some light on the plight of Afghan women spanning generations. To a point, Nadia Hashimi did succeed. I've read books in a similar vein before so I wasn't shocked by some of the unfortunate realities presented, but there was some additional aspects I hadn't considered that I appreciated reading about. Yet, it also lacked a lot of depth.
For something that is supposed to be central to the entire book, it totally glosses over the years Rahima and Shekiba spend as boys. There is barely any discussion of everyday life and in Rahima's case the threat of being found out or the social ramifications are downplayed immensely. It's like one chapter her aunt gets the idea, and then the next one it's suddenly been four years and everything goes down the drain. It undermines a lot of the contrast between the freedom of being a boy vs being a girl when there is so little detail about what being a boy entails. This continues throughout the entire book. Concepts are touched on only to never go deeper than the surface. And the characters suffer for it. None of the characters are treated as 3 dimensional people. They serve a specific purpose within the story and there motivations or backstories are relative to that functionality.
The last third of the book is severely underwhelming. I was super invested because it felt like we were building to something and then it stalls right before the good part. I didn't expect some sweeping change, but it was so rushed. I know that Rahima is young, and her situation was mostly inescapable anyways, but she didn't have any motivation or fire to really get me on her side. It was mostly just sympathy for her circumstances. In this way Shekiba was a lot stronger. And without any character development for the supporting cast it felt really anti-climactic. It was an ambiguous ending which definitely can work. it just didn't work in this case.
This book is bittersweet. I spent most of it desperately racing through it, hoping it would have an ending I could live with, and while it was okay the journey there, in hindsight, was disappointing.
It's like a toss up between 3 to 3.5 stars.