A Place for Us

A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It's hard to define the intangible qualities that sometimes help a book resonate with their readers, and "A Place for Us" had so many intangibles for me. It's too simplistic to say that this book is a multi-generational book on faith, family, culture, and expectations, but to get more specific about the plot would do this story a disservice. The prose is beautiful and purposeful while the depth of human emotion and characterization so nuanced that thoughts shared by the characters felt like mini-revelations.

In the days since I finished "A Place for Us", I've tried to decide if the storylines were too well matched with my life experiences, and if that's why I loved the book so much. After all, I was raised to be very devout in my faith and at times felt torn between what my faith and familial expectations were as compared to what overarching questions I had. I am also a very driven, goal-oriented oldest daughter who desperately wanted to please her father with a brother whose choices have complicated things time and time again. I am a new mother who wants her son to feel safe and loved amid the chaos of this world. But this story is bigger than my own personal ties to it. We all have parents, beliefs, siblings, hopes, failed dreams, and questions. This book seems to explore what it means to be human, to love, and to be loved. It doesn't necessarily even tell us a concrete answers in those explorations, and yet, isn't that also so profoundly true to life?

In short, this debut novel by Fatima Farheen Mirza is worth the investment and time. Her narrative style requires focus as she moves between characters and years. She is also less focused on events rather than reflections on those events, but her details are not superfluous or tedious. Instead, Mirza adds texture and voice to already vivid characters. Read it please because we really need more books like this and more courage to face what these characters are grappling with themselves.

Happy reading and happy November--

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