Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by zainub_reads
The Good Children by Roopa Farooki
2.0
This book should actually be titled “Ridiculous Mother And Obnoxious Children”.
“Good Children” narrates the story of four Punjabi siblings brought up in Lahore by their disciplinarian and somewhat mentally disturbed/emotionally distant mother, who lives to keep up appearances and their father who lurks somewhere in the shadows as far as parenting is concerned.
The story is divided into three parts, the first ranging from 1938-1961, the second from 1961-1997 and the last from 1961-2009.
The timeline itself is sort of crazy and disruptive to the narrative that jumps between all four siblings.
The two boys Sully (Sulaman Saddeq) and Jakie (Jamal Kamal) and girls Mae (Maryam) and Lana (Leena).
For starters, it’s a bit of an overstretch that a muslim household in 1938 was totally English in all habits and mannerisms plus the names of all children?!
The two boys to further their education are sent to The United States and The United Kingdom respectively where they live as they please, marry whom they will but the readers somehow need to believe that their strict upbringing and distant mother is responsible for their discontented selves.
The daughters get married early and with their consent at young ages due to society and pressure from their mother but are both divorced/separated within a few years (where is societal pressure now?
P.S. I’m not advocating forced or unhappy marriages just stating how it all feels out of place in this story).
.
The representation of religion is done very poorly and in trying very hard to be relevant to multiple themes the story keeps losing the plot every time.
This book felt like a lost opportunity and even though I love reading about relationship dynamics and family sagas this one was a disappointment.
“Good Children” narrates the story of four Punjabi siblings brought up in Lahore by their disciplinarian and somewhat mentally disturbed/emotionally distant mother, who lives to keep up appearances and their father who lurks somewhere in the shadows as far as parenting is concerned.
The story is divided into three parts, the first ranging from 1938-1961, the second from 1961-1997 and the last from 1961-2009.
The timeline itself is sort of crazy and disruptive to the narrative that jumps between all four siblings.
The two boys Sully (Sulaman Saddeq) and Jakie (Jamal Kamal) and girls Mae (Maryam) and Lana (Leena).
For starters, it’s a bit of an overstretch that a muslim household in 1938 was totally English in all habits and mannerisms plus the names of all children?!
The two boys to further their education are sent to The United States and The United Kingdom respectively where they live as they please, marry whom they will but the readers somehow need to believe that their strict upbringing and distant mother is responsible for their discontented selves.
The daughters get married early and with their consent at young ages due to society and pressure from their mother but are both divorced/separated within a few years (where is societal pressure now?
P.S. I’m not advocating forced or unhappy marriages just stating how it all feels out of place in this story).
.
The representation of religion is done very poorly and in trying very hard to be relevant to multiple themes the story keeps losing the plot every time.
This book felt like a lost opportunity and even though I love reading about relationship dynamics and family sagas this one was a disappointment.