By Fatima Farheen Mirza
Literary fiction
June 2018
SPJ for Hogarth
ISBN: 978-1524763558
Families, just like individuals, have an ebb and flow to their lives. There are times of contentment, times of sorrow, times of joy and times when knowing oneself is key to living the best life one can.
The story of one family is detailed with loving care in Fatima Farheen Mirza's debut novel, A Place for Us. As the novel opens, Rafiq and Layla's family have gathered for the wedding of their oldest daughter, Hadia. Layla came to the United States from India as a young bride, wedded in an arranged marriage to a man she had only met twice. Over the years, they have been calm, kind, hard-working and live by their faith.
But their children have changed with the times. Hadia is a doctor who is marrying a man of her own choice. He is also a Muslim, but does not know the language of her childhood. Huda, the middle child, also is a woman working outside the home. And youngest child Amar is introduced as a man of mystery. He is the prodigal child. What drove him away? Will this family occasion be a reconciliation?
Weaving back and forth through time, and from the viewpoint of various family members, the reader learns the how and why behind Amar's story. The reader also learns the depth of feelings that created the situation and which made these characters the people that they are.
The layers to this family's story start with the quiet faith of Layla. She was raised "not to question the way God worked" and, as her mother taught her, "we don't have to see past the fog to know there are stars". The simplicity of her love for each member of her family does not mean it is a simple love, though. And that's true for every member of the family.
These are characters who want to give each other everything, whether they are falling in love for the first time or realizing how deeply they have loved someone for years. The final section, from a character not everyone will have expected to hear from, brings together all the different ways this family loves each other.
These also are characters who most deeply hurt those they love, not out of malice but often because they think they are doing the right thing by those who they love. They would give each other the moon and the stars if they could, and watching the night sky is a motif throughout the story that tugs on the heartstrings.
Throughout, many of the characters question their belief. Their journeys bring to mind the great struggles people of other faiths have gone through as they try to work their way toward understanding their life, the world and how can it all fit together. As one character notes:
The older I get, the easier it is for me to imagine that God can forgive a man for his sins when they only affect him, but maybe He wants people to mend any hurt and harm they cause their fellow brothers and sisters while in this life, while living in this realm.
This search for wisdom while not rejecting compassion is the stuff of which this novel is made.
To be able to see these relationships from so many angles is one of the great gifts in this deeply satisfying novel, and to see that from the different points of view, each character is right. This is the first in the SJP -- as in Sarah Jessica Parker -- for Hogarth imprint. A Place for Us is an impressive debut to the imprint as well as the author. That a publisher who has already gifted readers with Hogarth Shakespeare has also brought another great imprint to life bodes well for all who love what books can do for us.
©2018 All Rights Reserved TheLitForum.com Review and reprinted with permission
