Author:Shaillah Abdullah
Pages: 248
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Source: Personal
Reading year: 2010
Summary:
From book cover
From the darkest hour of American history emerges a mesmerizing tale of tender love, a life interrupted, and faith recovered. Arissa Illahi, a Muslim artist and writer, discovers in a single moment that no matter how carefully you map your life, it is life itself that chooses your destiny. After her husband's death in the collapse of the World Trade Center, the discovery of his manuscript marks Arissa's reconnection to life. Her unborn son and the unfinished novel fuse in her mind into one life-defining project that becomes, at once, the struggle for her emotional survival and the redemption of her race. "Saffron Dreams" is a novel about our ever evolving identities and the events and places that shape them. It reminds us that in the midst of tragedy, our dreams can become a lasting legacy.
Review:
My book shelf was craving for my attention , being a weekend I finally decided to give my shelf the time they deserved, I stumbled upon this book ..And here I am sharing my thoughts..Re reading a book also helps me see things that I had earlier ignored...This novel is about a woman whose blissfull married life with all happy days takes an unfortunate turn into a widow and to be single parent with a special attention child, more to it the world around her seemed to have drifted away , now surrounded by prejudice eyes...All this comes due to 09/11 tragedy..Till then Arissa had a beautiful life a writer and an artist with a loving husband, leading a heavenly married life in America...With the twin tower disaster she loses her husband and now her purdah becomes repugnant..People around her no more understand Muslim faith and practice that makes the essence of her life.. She is pregnant with a baby boy who would be born with multiple disabilities..As she struggles to cope up with all the blows one after another, she stumbles upon her husband's manuscript of a book..That unfinished manuscript renders her strength to move ahead with her unborn as the focal point of her existence..Arissa's emotional journey is in deep contrast with her life in Pakistan, born in a well -to - do family,a loving father with high dreams...Abdullah has a done great job in bringing a beautiful Pakistan alive in my mind..This a refreshing read in comparison with whatever I have been reading off late...Arissa finds emotional support through her in-laws...Arissa's inabilty to brew with the crowd post 9/11 was something that stricked a chord in me, her purdah, her way of life all seemed out of place just because people around had inhibitions towards Muslims ...Abdullah's writing is beautiful and captivating..This novel is an amazing romantic tale...Arissa stress upon the point that love remains even when a person dies and this love extends the strength to face any trouble that might stand tall...This is yet another book that gives a vantage for finding courage at the face of disasters...
Book 15 for SAC (SouthaAsian reading challenge)
This book sounds as if it has a great plot. There are so many issues surrounding this subject matter. Many of my fellow American's fail to realize or at least think much about the fact that innocent Muslims also died in the 9/11. I live and work not too far from Manhattan as I did so back then and knew people who died at the site. I also saw first hand some of the irrational ant Muslim hysteria that resulted in the months and years that followed.
ReplyDeleteI chose this book back then especially because the book had the other side of the story, describing from a Muslim point of view...You are absolutely right sometimes things just go completely haywire that it becomes difficult to think rationally..
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