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A review by mad3n
Country of Origin by Dalia Azim
4.0
I stumbled on this book at the library one day and am eternally grateful I did. This beautiful multigenerational family saga begins in Egypt in 1950s and ends in America in the 1980s chronicling a family’s experience with war, immigration, religion, politics, colonialism, mental illness, love, marriage, culture, and gender roles. This book felt very special to me as the main characters stories followed a very similar narrative to that of my ancestors helping bring to life the emotional and personal development that took place for them as they journeyed to a foreign land so young.
Dalia did a fantastic job of communicating the impact of the characters’s geographical and cultural upbringings across generations. The language and tone used to depict the the daughters experience growing up in America in the 70s and 80s was drastically different from the language and tone used in the first half of the novel depicting her parents love story in Egypt and journey to America. This contrast was jarring and awkward at times, but I felt this may be an artistic choice in order to bring forth discomfort revealing the ruggedness of the characters developing identities and to highlight the changes taking place across generations.
The ending to this book made me angry in the best way. As came to the ending, I wanted so badly for my questions to be answered and for some plot lines to come full circle with a bow on top. However, that is not life and the story of humanity is always continuing to be written through many generations connecting to one another. I wanted to give the book four stars because of the way I felt the story and language became more dull in the second half. However, reflecting on the novel, I can see the beauty in this choice and understand the importance of the messages being communicated. I really loved this book, I am so thankful I picked it up and I highly recommend. Thank you Dalia!
Dalia did a fantastic job of communicating the impact of the characters’s geographical and cultural upbringings across generations. The language and tone used to depict the the daughters experience growing up in America in the 70s and 80s was drastically different from the language and tone used in the first half of the novel depicting her parents love story in Egypt and journey to America. This contrast was jarring and awkward at times, but I felt this may be an artistic choice in order to bring forth discomfort revealing the ruggedness of the characters developing identities and to highlight the changes taking place across generations.
The ending to this book made me angry in the best way. As came to the ending, I wanted so badly for my questions to be answered and for some plot lines to come full circle with a bow on top. However, that is not life and the story of humanity is always continuing to be written through many generations connecting to one another. I wanted to give the book four stars because of the way I felt the story and language became more dull in the second half. However, reflecting on the novel, I can see the beauty in this choice and understand the importance of the messages being communicated. I really loved this book, I am so thankful I picked it up and I highly recommend. Thank you Dalia!