A review by whatsshwereading
Hellfire by Leesa Gazi, Shabnam Nadiya

challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

 
In an assuming neighbourhood in Dhaka, Bangaldesh, lives an unassuming family – Mukhles Shaheb, the father, Farida Khanam, the mother, Lovely and Beauty – the daughters. Our story starts on Lovely’s fortieth birthday when she’s permitted (yes, you read that right) to step out of the house by herself. And in the next 24 hours, as the story unfolds, you discover, with horror, that there’s nothing banal about this seemingly domestic household. 
 
Farida Khanam, a fearsome woman with rigid ideas of what motherhood is supposed to be, rules her house and the lives of her family with an iron fist. The father is a weak, non-entity, devoid of all agency; Lovely, the elder daughter is quiet and obedient; Beauty, the younger one, a spoilt brat, who finds ways to make her golden cage comfortable. There is ample display of toxic and abusive behavior (domestic help is always abused, the daughters are threatened, curses of death heaped upon them one minute and plied with sweet words and comforts the next). As you read, the annoyance at Lovely’s obedience, timidity gives way to a sense of foreboding, one that is fully realized in the final act. An action, I promise you, you won’t see coming. 

On a side note, while I was reading reviews of this book, I came across one titled “What Happens to Women in a Matriarchy, and Other Secrets.”I strongly disagree. See, Hellfire is not about matriarchy. No. It’s about what happens when women internalize patriarchy and misogyny. It’s about how women are held to such stringent ideals, moral narratives, and placed on a pedestal that they lose all sense of self. 

Hellfire is a tightly knit modern gothic horror. It’s a book that will make you think and think some more. It’s a book that will make you question the society, its morals, and ideals.  Leesa Gazi has written a book for the ages and I am thankful that Shabnam Nadia’s effortless translation has made it accessible to people like me.