Gain Access A Woman Is No Man Originated By Etaf Rum File Format Digital Version
so I loved this book, my second fivestar fiction read of! The novel follows two alternating timelines within the same PalestinianArab family: Isra, when she first leaves Palestine to marry into Adams family and live in the United States, and eighteenyearold Deya, who lives in Brooklyn and learned at a young age that her mother Isra and her father Adam both died in a car accident.
Deya begins to question this narrative about her parents when she receives a secret note from a mysterious yet familiarlooking woman, which leads Deya to also interrogate all she knows about her place in the world as a young woman, expected to marry a man and raise his children, who wants to go to college and yet is forbidden to do so.
I felt enamored with how Etaf Rum writes about gender in A Woman is No Man, She portrays more explicit forms of patriarchy for sure, such as how Isra and other women are relentlessly pressured into only existing to support their husbands and raise their husbands children.
Rum also displays more nuanced manifestations of patriarchy, such as how Fareeda, Isras stepmother and Deyas grandmother, internalizes this sexism and perpetuates it to disempower all of the other women in her life.
I appreciated how Rum portrayed the deleterious effects of toxic masculinity too, how the pressure inflicted upon Adam contributed to his horrifying abuse of Isra.
While I agree with other reviewers that sometimes Rums writing felt a bit repetitive or stilted, such as the initial conversations between Deya and the mysterious woman in her life, the characters emotions still felt genuine.
I also liked how Rum included details about how Zionism which the United States is complicit in through providing billions of dollars to Israel in military aid generated the intergenerational trauma that affects Fareeda, Isra, and other members of their family.
Despite this books vivid and brutal depiction of domestic abuse and stifling gender roles, I felt great hope when reading about how certain female characters did their best to fight back against their circumstances and reclaim their lives.
I loved reading about Isra, Sarah, and Deya and how these women supported one anothers dreams even when other women tried to tear them down.
Rums emphasis on the theme of books, knowledge, and education as empowerment both materially and psychologically resonated with me and made me feel once again grateful for the ability to access social justice and feminist texts.
The pacing of this book enhanced my reading experience of it too, Rum inserts just the right amount of suspense into the alternating timelines between Isra and Deya to keep us on our toes, I liked how she set scenes and how she wrote about characters internal suffering, such as how she humanized Fareeda despite her cruelty toward Isra.
Overall an excellent book that I would recommend to anyone interested in fiction about
gender and family, I think I read this one at the right time for me because Ive been feeling pretty hopeless about how white supremacy, amatonormativity, and patriarchy have been affecting my own life, and Rum reminded me of the power I wield in my own individual choices even when it feels like these systems of oppression are so entrenched of course I recognize the difference between my privileged circumstances and those of the characters in this novel.
Yay for novels that feel both bleak and hopeful, that feature characters with strong voices doing their best to survive and care for others even in awful conditions.
SPOILER ALERT
I want to start off by saying that I was fortunate enough to have won this book from a giveaway in exchange for an honest review.
. .
.is my rating for this book, heres why:
The concept for this book alone is definitelystar worthy! Stories like Isras and Deyas need to be told more often, as there really isnt much literature out there about the struggles Arabic women have faced and are currently facing! But as much as I was pulled in with interest about this topic, it couldnt have been told much slower.
Unfortunately it felt to me like the author just prolonged the book by dragging out and repeating the same things over and over in different but extremely similar ways.
This is mainly where I struggled with the book, I dont know if the author repeated things on purpose in hopes of reiterating the importance of the point she was trying to make, or if she simply didnt realize her repetition.
As far as spelling and grammar goes, I only came across a few errors throughout the book, but for the most part, it was mistakefree.
Lastly, my only other “issue” persay with the book, is the ending! Like seriously! My personal opinion only, but I think it would have ended better with Deya being the last chapter.
. . but my main issue was how it ended with Isra getting on the subway with her daughters, We know that Adam ends up killing her, so it seemed weird that it didnt include any mention of that in the ending.
Especially because it felt like the lastchapters were all building up to that scene, and then “Poof!”, . . NOTHING. Isra gets on a subway, That bothered me.
However, even though there were things that I didnt like, there were also many things that I did enjoy! The story itself was wonderful.
If Etaf Rum had condensed it better, I think it would make a huge difference! It is obvious that she has talent, and you can feel her voice speak through the pages!
I think the author was great in writing this and getting her story out there! The events in this book need to be talked about more! The cover, title and preface of A Woman Is No Man are very striking and I was drawn into the pages immediately.
Set in Brooklyn, the novel is about the voiceless women in a Palestinian immigrant family,
The story felt familiar, I have read so many novels about the oppressed lives of women living within insular communities Orthodox Jewish, Morman, Saudi Arabian etc.
But Rum has created the story anew, She captures the trapped doom of Isra perfectly, I rooted for her and her daughters while wishing she could break out, No one is happy within this family the men hold more power but are also trapped in the fatalistic cycle of their lives doomed to repeat the same mistakes.
Or not we see that change is possible, This was a novel that I couldn't put down, needing to find out what happens, ”Where I come from, voicelessness is the condition of my gender, as normal as the bosoms on a womans chest, as necessary as the next generation growing inside her belly.
”
”Where I come from, weve learned to conceal our condition, Weve been taught to silence ourselves, that our silence will save us, It is only now, many years later, that I know this to be false, Only now, as I write this story, do I feel my voice coming, ”
”Youve never heard this story before, No matter how many books youve read, how many tales you know, believe me: no one has ever told you a story like this one.
Where I come from, we keep these stories to ourselves, To tell them to the outside world is unheard of, dangerous, the ultimate shame, ”
This story is shared through the voices of three generations of women Isra Hadid, Deya RaAd who is Isras daughter, and Fareeda RaAd who is Isras motherinlaw and mother of Adam, Isras husband.
This story takes us to two locations, Palestine, where Isra was born and raised, and Brooklyn, New York, where Isra moves with her PalestinianAmerican husband in the earlys.
At the age of seventeen, Isra had received marriage proposals, which her father had turned down, waiting for this family who is now living in America, and their search for a bride for their son.
”A daughter was only a temporary guest, quietly awaiting another man to scoop her away, along with all her financial burden.
”
It mattered not what her wishes were, if she had wanted to marry for love, hoped for a romance like those out of the books she so loved to read, or even to pursue other dreams.
This is what was expected of her,
”Soon youll learn that theres no room for love in a womans life, Theres only one thing youll need, and thats sabr, patience, ”
They marry, and it isnt long before her new motherinlaw, Fareeda, is asking about the grandson she is hoping will arrive soon.
And Isra produces a child, a girl, soon after, And then another, and another, and yet another, but no sons, It is a source of much shame to Fareeda, who seems to see shame in so many things that are out of Isras control.
As though it is also Isras fault that Adam takes out of his frustrations and anger at his job, and the world on her, leaving marks and bruises that Fareeda insists that she cover, so that she will not bring more shame on this family.
During the timeline when Deya is a teenager, in, the girls are living with Fareeda and Khaled, have lived with them since their parents died ten years before, and preparations are being made for potential suitors to present themselves to Deya, while she protests that she wants to go to college.
But the traditions of their culture persist in swaying Fareedas prodding that she should just spend time with these young men, After all, why should she waste her time reading, learning, when everyone has predetermined her future is to be a wife and mother.
An important, and beautifully shared story of the repetitive nature of abuse in families, and in cultures that seem to isolate themselves from communities beyond their personal boundaries but this can apply to any community that sees itself as “set apart” from their neighbors.
The continued cycle of blaming victims for being victims of abuse is something we seem time and again in varying cultures, religions, communities, countries.
A variation on a very dangerous theme,
Many thanks, once again, to the Public Library system, and the many Librarians that manage, organize and keep it running, for the loan of this book!
Find all of my reviews at: sitelink blogspot. com/
sitelink
Let me begin by saying that after my last experience with an internet famous sitelink"author" term used as loosely as possible since she didnt even write the thing, but failed to give credit where credit was due until being called out about it, there is zero chance I would have ever read this.
Unfortunately, Im not super hip on the times and as soon as I saw this was going to be a Book of the Month selection I immediately put a library hold on it.
Much to my surprise, I had first dibs and already had it downloaded and started before I saw, .
sitelink
Uhhhhhhhh, .
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WTF Let me clarify things real quick that I know nothing about this author aside from the fact that I really enjoy her “coffee cups and book covers” Instagrams.
However, I have been trolled near to death by rabid fanbases authors like these tend to generate and really wouldnt have volunteered for another potentialrounds in the ring as their punching bag should history repeat itself.
But I am not a DNFer so I kept plugging along,
Obviously from my rating I hated this one, but Imma keep it short and sweet when it comes to why,
. As mentioned above, this is a Book of the Month pick, Ive seen it shelved as contemporary fiction, historical fiction and the eversodreaded “chick lit” as well, Heres what I have to say about that, .
sitelink
This is YA, Period.
. In case you didnt know, this is a book that is supposed to deliver a message, Heres how it goes about doing it, .
sitelink
sitelinkTHIS REVIEW sums things up perfectly,
. I have a feeling this book will never find its true intended audience, but Im also terrified that it will make its way into the hands of the Alt Right who will be more than happy to quote things like this:
“How would they have enough money to cover expenses of a newborn When shed asked, Fareeda had merely smiled and said, “Dont worry about that.
With food stamps and Medicaid, you can have as many children as you want, ”"
. Most importantly Simply put, its just, .
sitelink
The writing is amateurish, the pacing nonexistent, the characters all Flat Stanleys that means onedimensional, in case you need it womansplained for you, and aside from that dead horse being turned into a gooey pulp, nothing ever happens until around themark.
Looking for a book about growing up as a MiddleEasterner Pick up sitelinkPersepolis, Want a book that will make you feel all the feels about families and different generations from a nonwhite storyteller Grab sitelinkThe Joy Luck Club.
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