Beneath My Mother's Feet

by Amjed Qamar

"Our lives will always be in the hands of our mothers, whether we like it or not."

Nazia doesn't mind when her friends tease and call her a good beti, a dutiful daughter. Growing up in a working-class family in Karachi, Pakistan, Nazia knows that obedience is the least she can give to her mother, who has spent years saving and preparing for her dowry. But every daughter must grow up, and for fourteen-year-old Nazia that day arrives suddenly when her father gets into an accident at work, and her family finds themselves without money for rent or food.

Being the beti that she is, Nazia drops out of school to help her mother clean houses, all the while wondering when she managed to lose control of her life that had been full of friends and school. Working as a maid is a shameful obligation that could be detrimental to her future -- after all, no one wants a housekeeper for a daughter-in-law. As Nazia finds herself growing up much too quickly, the lessons of hardship that seem unbearable turn out to be a lot more liberating than she ever imagined.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Pakistan, Middle Grade, Historical, Realistic Fiction

198 pages, Hardcover

First published June 17, 2008

Reviews

[Reading_ Tamishly · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, so, so much better than most of the average books out there and, undoubtedly, is quite underrated.

Set in Pakistan, this is the story of a girl who is expected to get married as soon as she finishes school. But is she lucky enough to even go to school when her father gets to rest because of an injury and her mother has to resort to cleaning houses?

Well, this book might read like some fiction for the fiction it is. But as much as I would like to accept it, I would say it’s more than fiction. This story is quite common. For someone who has lived their entire lives in a patriarchal society, it’s sad to say it’s the reality of many girls and women. You might not believe it but things haven’t changed much when it comes to girl child overall development and women having to compromise all their lives.

I like the writing. I like the main character. However, I just can’t stand the adult characters. That’s a bit of a downer for me. However, they are all convincing and realistic.

This book doesn’t try to be extremely sad or emotionally manipulative as most stories do when it comes to hardships the characters face, specially when they are the vulnerable population of the society.

The ending is hopeful and there are redeeming opportunities for the hopeless adult characters which I definitely appreciate.

I love the family dynamics and the friendship in the story.

Hopefully this book gets picked up more.

[shruti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another book I grabbed because its cover showed me it was South Asian. I feel like my reaction to this book will be different from a lot of the non-South Asian readers because I spent the entire time thinking about the maids in my families' homes in India and how we appear to them and how they got into that situation and how would I react if these situations were happening in my life. Not that it is a direct correlation, as I've never been a homeowner or spent more than 4 months at a time in India, but sometimes I feel very uncomfortable with the relationships and interactions with the maids in India. And a few other thoughts that I am wrestling with and don't care to share. Anyway, because this book inspired that thinking in me, I give it 4 stars for the psychological impact, but I do not know if people will have that same experience with the book, nor can I judge the writing or how the plot unfolds.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding novel of a 14-year-old girl who is torn between being a good daughter and helping out her mother during hard times and wanting a life of her own, to make her own choices. Set in the city of Karachi, Pakistan, Nazia's life goes from bad to worse, and it seems that men make all the decisions for women, who have no choice but to obey. But as Nazia observes how unreliable the men around her are, her anger at the injustice of it gives her the courage to find a creative solution to her own situation, to make her own path in life. I could not help but admire Nazia's strength and industry, her determination to avoid the fate of her mother and their friend Shenaz. It's hard to believe in this day and age that there are women in the world, thousands of them, who don't have the choices women do in the United States, and are limited to the roles of wife and mother. Even more limiting are class distinctions. I could not believe that, just because Nazia had to clean houses, it lowered her social status to the point where one of her former school friends didn't want to associate with her any more. That's like judging the cover rather than the content of a book. I don't understand how people can be like that.

I did appreciate the glossary at the end of the book, but one word was left out. Several times in the story, a character would start a sentence with the word "gee". Does that mean "gee" the way we Americans would start a sentence, as an interjection? Or does it mean something else? Just curious.

I would love to read a sequel to this, to find out how Nazia's younger sister, Isha, fares. I hope Amjed Qamar writes more of these novels! Highly recommended!!

[Patty · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really did not like this book. Had a difficult time finishing it-- simply depressing and sad. I could have easily finished this book in a day but it took me two weeks to read it simply bc I did not want to pick it up again. The last five pages offer a sip of hope but I just found the cultural treatment of women BY women so sad and unhappy. I would hope that women would be more loving, more kind and more merciful to one another because they understand the hardships they all must face. Nazia's mother just made me so angry. And the role of the men in this story was pathetic as well. I think that this type of cultural read is important but it was still oppressively depressing to me. Good for discussion of women's roles and issues.

[Ricki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a sucker for stories that show me different cultures. This one was no different. I truly felt Nazia's voice as I read this story. I loved how she defied the social norms to follow her dreams. She showed great strength and resolved during the hardships she faced. I also liked how she saw the good in people, and I was saddened when these people betrayed her and she was forced to realize that people must earn your trust.

My one complaint about this book is the portrayal of men. In the book, the women tell Nazia that all men are lazy and worthless. The actions of all of the men in this story prove this to her. There is not one good, strong male figure in this story, with the exception of a 10-year-old boy (who I don't count, as he is a child). I was a bit turned off by the negativity regarding males. Other than this, I loved this book. It reminded me a lot of Sold, by Patricia McCormick.

[Mirula Prasad · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was good.This book is great if you like to know about other people's lives and what their problems are.In this book Nazia has a problem with her mother ,who thinks that she knows what her daughter's future will be.This book has a great plot with a surprising end.

[Phoebe L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

But whatever happened to Sherzad? D:

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Sometimes I wonder. You are the perfect daughter, but your will is strong. Sometimes, I think, stronger than mine."

See reviews first on my blog



Nazia is a young girl who just wants to learn, and make her own career path. But her mother has a different plan for her, one that involves getting married, and doing what her husband says.
Very early on we see Nazia’s family start falling apart due to her father’s choices, and soon thereafter her own to be marriage might fall apart as well.

When her mother pulls her out of school so he can work with her in order to make money for the family to survive. Nazia starts questing what is going on, and if the choices her mother is making for her and the rest of the family are the right ones. We see her learn things as she is working, and she see what life might be like if she isn’t able to get the education she wants. We also see why her mother has had to make such hard choices, and how she really did have the best interest at heart, but was trying to choose the path for her daughter that she felt to be accepted more in their society.

In the end though, it does end somewhat happy, we see that her mother had known certain things all along that Nazia had been keeping secret, and that even though she seemed like she was just trying to force something onto her, she was also trying to prepare herself for the path her daughter would most likely take.

I found this book really interesting, and nice start into trying to understand other cultures and how they work. If you’re wanting to start learning about other cultures then I would say read this book, it’s not very long and it does show a lot of different things, as well as why they are done.


"I knew this would come, I'd hoped and prayed it would not. But of course Allah's will rules over mine. He made you strong willed for a reason. He gave you thoughts that are usually reserved for men. He gave you wisdom that others were denied. Who knows why? We cannot fight it or deny it anymore, now, can we?"

[Aneesha · Rating 3 out of 5]

The novel is about Nazia’s life changing. She is a good daughter and excels in school. But when she found out that she had to marry her cousin her life changed. Her mother takes Nazia out of school to work as a house cleaner. The 14 year old goes through many obstacles that will affect her destiny. The characters seem real because in India many children and teens do not go to school. Instead they help their family by getting a job. In my mind Nazia is a 14 year old teen with long black hair and hazel eyes. She excels in school and loves her family. When Nazia said that she will not marry her cousin to her father and her uncle, that quote meant that she is brave enough to stand up for herself. When Nazia helped Sherzad run away from his masters home, that told me that Nazia cares about Sherzad’s life. I would probably rate this book 3 out of 5. I liked the way the author made each chapter interesting, but I didn't like it when the author put more problems that need to be solved in each chapter. That just made the story more confusing and harder to understand. I think the theme of this story is even though you life is controlled by someone else, it does not mean you can't stand up for yourself. When Nazia’s friend said “Our lives will always be in the hands of our mothers, whether we like it or not,” that made Nazia think about how her future would turn out if she stood up for her own right to live a life she wanted to live.

[Kirsten · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book in about two days for book club. I didn't really like it. Not that the book is that horrible, but it really put me in a bad mood to read about how hot and dirty it was there. Also, I got irritated by the expression that the folks in the book "licked their lips." What is that???
I am not sure why we picked it. It is Young Adult and just not very deep. All it communicates is that life in Pakistan sucks for women and girls. All the men are horrible. All the rich women are horrible. It is about the inner struggle of the young girl who needs to decide if she wants to be a traditional good daughter, or if she wants to follower her dream of more freedom. blahblahblahdeblah Maybe it's a good read if you are 11, but if you're an adult, read something like The Kite Runner or A Thousand Splendid Suns.
Those books take place in Afghanistan, not Pakistan, but folks try to flee Afghanistan to go to Pakistan because it's so much better there. Maybe I'm just bitter because Pakistan hid Osama Bin Laden in broad daylight and that's why I just don't like them. The book does tell an interesting struggle but it is just very one-dimensional. Good people here, bad people there. It's obvious what Nazia should do and it's frustrating to see her believe in her idiot father and brother for so long when it's obvious that they are complete losers.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really, really loved this book - I loved how understandable everyone was, how smart and capable but also flawed Nazia was, how Nazia's mother always tried to do what was best for her family, what she thought would be most secure, and how that security clashed with Nazia's happiness. Beneath My Mother's Feet presents different women with different life stories and different styles of happiness and that's something that's oftentimes hard to find in literature. The writing was smart and incisive - never too simplistic, but never overly flowery, and all the characters, even at their most despicable, shone with humanity and, for me personally, familiarity. A fantastic coming-of-age story, for both readers young and old.

[Karlan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A modern story of a troubled family in Karachi features a young teen who must drop out of school when her older brother steals her dowry. She must work with her mother when her father is injured and does not want to return to work. As she sees more of the world and grows more independent, all of her plans change.

[Jessy · Rating 1 out of 5]

This should be called "a tree grows in Karachi". Same kind of story, where all the poor people are lazy and/or cruel and/or selfish, except for our protagonist, who will rise above her small beginnings. BORING.

[Ana Sofía · Rating 3 out of 5]

ok story... too many characters to keep track of

[Jeanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rather a depressing book, for Muslim Voices grant.

[Tommy Correnti · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book.

[Expat Panda · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s the classic case of brown girl growing up within south Asian culture with her whole life mapped out; tragedy strikes and suddenly she begins to question the things she once considered normal.

Nazia’s father refuses to return to work after an accident and so her mother has to earn a living for the family. The only way she can do this is to pull the children out of school and take them along with her as she cleans houses for Pakistani’s elite. Her mum is old and can’t manage the chores so Nazia has to pitch in. Suddenly she went from schoolgirl to maid.

Her marriage to her cousin doesn’t exactly work out (thank goodness) and her family is thrown into a financially precarious situation as they’re essentially homeless.

One of the central themes in this book is the relationship between mothers and daughters in Pakistani culture. The title of this novel comes from the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) who said, "The gates of heaven lie beneath a mother's feet.". This well-known saying seems to imply that if we wish to get to heaven we should honor our mother and be obedient to her wishes in all things. But Nazia cannot reconcile this thought with her hard reality. To what extent to our mothers know what’s best for us especially if they’re uneducated and oppressed?

Overall, the book left me underwhelmed. It was a good read but didn’t knock my socks off or impress me with good writing. I also foolishly thought this would be lighthearted but it was anything but 😅

This would be a good book to read with a class of teenagers or for a book club as it’s heavy and contains material for analysis.

[Chesca · Rating 5 out of 5]

A culturally immersive, fictional story set in Pakistan. A young girl gets caught up in struggles and hard circumstances beyond her control. She matures beautifully by daily choosing loyalty, love to others, hard work, personal dignity, and personal choice. A YA book, yet not a cozy story. Content consideration: domestic violence (slapping).

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nazia is 14 and will be married to her much older cousin at the end of the school year. Her mom had made clothes for her dowry and had jewelry saved for the wedding. It was a lifetime's work of acquiring bracelets, earrings, necklaces, and beaded outfits to be worn after her wedding. 

Her dad was injured in a work accident and lay around the house pretending to be hurt while his wife worked her butt off cleaning houses like a servant. Annoyingly, Nazia took her dad's side. Her no good, loser brother who had left home with no word came back and stole Nazia's entire dowry to sell. Unrealistically, Nazia didn't even react. She felt that Bilal had stolen from her mom and not her since her mom had bought the jewelry. And she didn't want to tell her mom that her brother had stolen it because she didn't want to ruin her mom's good opinion of him. A sensible, realistic choice. 

Her uncle came after he heard about his bother's accident and because his son Salman asked him to check on his future wife and to see if the family needed anything. He wished they had come to him in the beginning for help, asked how they could make this decision for Nazia without coming to him. He said she was her daughter for a short time but she would be his son's wife for the rest of her life. He told Nazia she could have at least sent word to him and he would have helped her. If her dad wasn't going to take care of them he never would have let them come, not when Nazia is spoken for.

Her uncle was embarrassed of her calloused hands and dark, freckled skin, skinny body and hollowed eyes from working. Nazia had worked the shameful work of a servant and was not suitable for marriage, could turn willful and manipulate her husband against his dad. He broke off the engagement and would have to find another bride for his son. 

Her mom told her that her dad pretended to have broken legs when they were only bruised and that he had healed but was only pretending to go out and look for work. She gave him the money for tent instead of taking it herself and he claimed to have been robbed. After her uncle broke the engagement, and her dad wasn't there to defend them because he stayed gone for two days, they were kicked out of the apartment and had to beg the rich employers to let them stay at their house. 

Surprisingly, Fatima, the nicest employer, didn't let them stay because she didn't have room. Seema, the one who employs Sherzad, agreed to keep them but not her brother or dad if they showed. The women kept saying how had the men are, how they're lazy and when they find out the mom will do anything to feed their kids, they do nothing and take the money. Nazia kept getting mad anytime her mom said something bad about her dad, believing in his innocence the entire time.

He showed up at their house and Nazia begged the woman to let him stay. I couldn't stand Nazia's belief in him. Her mom told her she'd regret it and Nazia wondered if they would, but she was happy that her two younger siblings could see their dad. Your dad stole the rent money and caused you all to lose your house and be borderline starving, worked to death as the lowest class in society. Why are you sticking up for him? Stupid, naive dumbass. I couldn't wait for her dad to prove him right. 

Seema had slapped Sherzad across the face when he'd asked for more food, and for the party when Sharzad was sick and Nazia had asked for someone else to do his errand, Seema slapped her. Her mom didn't say anything at all and I thought Nazia would be hurt but she was kissing her mom's cheek the next morning like nothing happened. The author couldn't write emotion. Nazia was like a robot without regular human reactions to events.

Nazia's dumbassery knew no bounds. She convinced Sherzad to leave this place in pursuit of staying with his mom, knowing that his mom sent all of his siblings out into the city to work and she came around collecting their money regularly. Sherzad abandoned his work one day, and then showed up later with a bruised face and a cut lip and his mom grabbed him by the ear and shook him like a rag doll. Way to go, dumbass, for misinterpreting yet one more situation and getting Sherzad into that situation. 

While her mom slept, her dad was complaining about having to patrol a wall at work and that his leg hurt and he should be able to sit down. He told Nazia to tell their employers that he was ill and I was expecting her to see the truth that he was a lazy bum. But no, she agreed to go along with it, let him sleep in, saw him limp when he went outside in case the boss was watching, and even bought a meal for him. Watching him lick the grease from the food made her "full." Screw this loser. 

There was a commotion with her dad and a peddler and Nazia saw that he was trying to sell their boss's scrap goods, and he claimed the peddler hadn't paid him for it yet. The man said to check his pockets and her mom found the money there. Seema kicked him out and stupid Nazia finally saw that her mom was right about him. About time. 

Sherzad told Nazia that he was leaving and she asked if he enjoyed being beaten; he said he learned not to listen to her. He's going to his grandma this time and not his mom because he realizes his mom doesn't love him like her mom loves her. He isn't happy being a servant. He said he needed her help and she agreed so she could help him out and get it right this time. Good, the idiot actually learned something. 

Nazia had Maleeha get her older brother to buy a train ticket for Sherzad. They came as a surprise to deliver the ticket and they went to the beach. Hisham walked a distance behind them on the beach, and Nazia said he was a saint to bring her. He bought them all roasted corn. I hoped that there was something there because he seemed like a good, promising choice, her best friend's brother and he was going to college.

Her dad came back with her uncle and Salman, had convinced him to go ahead with the engagement. They came to get her so the two could marry. Salman was fat and eager, weathered and saggy, and he dug wax out of his ear right there. Ew. 

It was commendable that she knew if she left now she couldn't save Sherzad and she knew she had to see it through for him. I felt bad for him that he'd heard the proposal for Nazia to leave with them now and he was stiff as he swept the floor, but once she told them she wasn't leaving until she helped with the party, he saluted her with the broom like a rifle. She ruined it as she told him he better be worth the trouble. Lose the attitude, girl! I also didn't understand why she told her uncle and cousin to pick out whatever clothes they wanted for her, if she wasn't sure she wanted to marry him. 

Nazia is so sentimental that she told Sherzad to go now and when he said something about the stars soothing pain, she told him to stop stalling and go! She smiled as she teased him about being a shahir, but still. Hug the boy and tell him bye; it's the last time you'll see him. 

It became so dramatic as Sherzad's mom came and found Sherzad gone and Nazia's dad in his bed. She accused Seema of replacing Sherzad with him, and insisted that Nazia knew where Sherzad had gone. Nazia's dad spilled the beans about Nazia leaving tomorrow to get married and Seema was mad that they would treat her like this after everything she's done for them. He had also overheard Nazia and Sherzad planning and offered to tell his mom for a price. 

Nazia told him not to say anything and hurt Sherzad and accused him of only caring about money and not his family, but he told exactly where Sherzad was and which train he was getting on.
 
Nazia and her mom talked and she said marriage could be as bad as cleaning houses because it would be just the same, where she couldn't make any decisions for herself. She almost told her mom her brother had taken the dowry but stopped herself. WHY ARE YOU PROTECTING YOUR MOM?!?!? But her mom already knew because her brother was the only one with the key. Nazia even said someone could have picked the lock, trying to convince her mom someone else could have done it! Wth is wrong with this girl? 

Nazia made her decision to leave and not marry Salman. Her mom said she had known this would happen but had tried to get her to make the easy choice instead. She had saved up money for her because Allah made her strong willed for a reason and gave her the thoughts of men. She would go to stay with her teacher and finish her education and marry someday, but not her cousin. Her mom made her stay the last night with her and she would face her fate proudly and not leave in the night, and her mom would protect her against the men. 

I wanted to know what career Nazia had planned and what she wanted to do with her life, but not a word of that was said. And I guess we're supposed to assume that Sherzad made it out okay, because we don't even know what happens there. The least she could have done was have Nazia learn the fate of the boy after she worked so hard to see him off. 

This was not an enjoyable read. I didn't like anything about it. I found everything about it really upsetting. It was one thing after another. And the ending was inconclusive to top it all off. Overall, I don't like this culture and it was disturbing and uninteresting and upsetting. It was a miserable time reading about how awful life is there. No options outside of what your mom wants, if you marry your mother in law dictates what you wear and how you decorate, if you're a servant you've lost all dignity and a hope of marrying. Men use women for money, cheat on them and have second wives. Ladies beat their servants, barely feed them, barely pay them. It was awful. This doesn't make me want to read any more about this culture if it's going to be so dismal, sexist, and upsetting. 

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Talk: Nazia has always been a good, obedient daughter, but when her father gets injured at work, everything starts to change. At first neighbors bring food to help her family, but the longer his recovery takes the more people begin to doubt that he is still really injured, and the more Nazia's family is left to cope on their own. Then one day even her mother loses faith in her father, and she takes Nazia out of school to help her work as a maid! Nazia thinks that once her father finds out, he'll save her and things will return to normal, but instead things just get worse. Nazia's family needs her and she wants to obey her mother, but will her obedience mean a lifetime working as a maid, being mistreated by cruel employers and just barely scraping by? Or will she be doomed to go from constantly obeying her mother to being under the heel of a mother-in-law? Will she ever get the chance to be on her own and do what she pleases? Is it worth taking that chance if it means abandoning her family? Sometimes it seems like she will always remain beneath her mother's feet.

Rocks My Socks: I love Nazia's spirit and intelligence. I also enjoyed seeing her grow from her youthful naivety into a strong-willed woman. She sees a lot of the worst of people and the world, but rather than let it defeat her, it spurns her on to find a way to break the cycle she seems stuck in. Her independence is admirable as well--I always respect the 'I don't need a man' philosophy! Mostly I loved looking at the familiar dilemma of pleasing your family versus being true to yourself from the lens of a different cultural perspective. There are interesting details and cultural insights throughout, as the author lived in Pakistan for several years and has a degree in psychology as well as English, which lends an interesting perspective to the book.

Rocks In My Socks: The book felt a bit heavy-handed and sappy at times with its 'even from a dirty hovel with an empty stomach you can still see the stars' attitude. The plot was also nothing terribly original.

Every Book Its Reader: I'd recommend this to ages 12 and up. It's a great book for anyone interested in learning about Pakistani culture, or for anyone who enjoys Oprah book club type books (you know what I'm talking about!) The book does revolve heavily around a female experience and perspective and the male characters are mostly of the good-for-nothing variety, so I'd say it's geared more towards girls, but could be enjoyed by more liberal-minded boys as well.

Read more of my reviews at http://auldschoollibrarian.blogspot.com

[Coralie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great strong female protagonist trapped in a cultural world that denies her basic freedoms that Western girls take for granted.

Slight con: almost no decent male characters...most are abusive, lazy, thieves, oppressive, opportunistic or unreliable. Good discussion opportunities here.

Book Club read. Discussions: race, poverty, culture, feminism, child labour, arranged marriage, indentured servitude, exploitation, power.

[Klaudia Janek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Highly Recommended [return][return]Nazia is fourteen years old and her family is fairly well off in Karachi, Pakistan. He father supports the family and Nazia attends school and is getting ready for an arranged marriage. When Nazia’s father get hurt and can no longer support the family, Nazia and her mother start cleaning houses for the rich. It is a secret because Nazia would be unmarriageable with her fall from status. Another blow to Nazia happens when her older brother steals the dowry intended for her marriage and she has to rewrite her future. Nazia gets an offer from Ms. Haroon to come stay with her and Nazia agrees.[return][return]This is the author’s debut novel and is well written. She won several writing/author prizes for this book, when it was published in 2008. There are not many YA novels written by Pakistani-American women, so I think this would make a good school library addition for cultural diversity. I have a difficult time reading about girls who have no say in their life. They go to school with the eventual outcome being marriage; a marriage that the family has to pay dearly for. Reading about cultures where the females are a burden is not at the top of my list. I like that this story has a strong female character, trying to make a good life for herself. I like that she gets to make her own path in life. The reader is left with a feeling of empowerment. [return][return]I think this would be a good book for our World Studies teachers to promote Islamic culture or modern day life in Pakistan. I have a lot of books written by Indian-American women authors in my library and this might be my first Pakistani-American author. We have a large community of Muslim girls, so I think some of them would enjoy reading this book. None of the content is objectionable, so it would appeal to conservative readers. I will also share this book with our 10th grade literature teachers as they have a novel of choice assignment for immigrant American authors. We also have a Pakistani Student Association that might be interested in this book, so I will post it on their Moodle page.

[Clare · Rating 4 out of 5]

A coming of age tale that makes you feel you've struggled under the weight of this girl's sorrows. Nazia is a dutiful daughter of a fairly respectable family in Pakistan. Her life changes the day her father is injured at work, her mother pulls her out of school to clean houses and maintain the family income.

A strong fatalism lies heavily over the story, made even heavier by the selfish actions of some characters. Nazia and her family are betrayed first by her brother and then by her father, and her mother (and most of the other women around her) accept the betrayals as symptomatic of all men who live only for themselves. These women lower themselves to beg in order to survive, believing they don't have a choice.

But Nazia's reaction is different, beneath the daily struggle to survive, her hope for her independence grows until she is brave enough to change her destiny. Her courage for herself is fed by the brave action she takes to help others who are treated unjustly. In contrast, her own mother turns away before helping anyone who is not directly her own responsibility.

The fatalism is hard to break out of, especially when it is so culturally ingrained. The book shows a slight bias towards modernity: those who encourage Nazia to look higher than being a servant forever, to go back to school and finish her education. It is less favourable towards tradition, her own family is keen for her to be married off in order to become someone else's concern rather than their own.

What it doesn't show, however, is that selfishness is the real problem, and it can co-exist with both traditional and modern attitudes. Tradition itself is not wrong, and modern is not right, but rather the selfishness or generosity in a person's actions makes them right or wrong.

An interesting book for adolescents to learn about a different way of life, to see struggles possibly much harder than their own, and hopefully to learn to care for others as well as aiming high in their own lives.

[Vicki · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Our lives will always be in the hands of our mothers, whether we like it or not."

I bought this young adult’s book for my teenager daughter but couldn’t resist picking it up myself. For anyone looking to escape to another time and age for a short time; it is a recommended journey, though not an overly happy one.

It is set in Karachi, Pakistan where life for a fourteen-year-old Muslim girl Nazia comes crashing down around her ears in the blink of an afternoon.

She is a normal teenager who is bright at school and hangs out with her friends in her spare time, with one eye on the boys playing cricket in the park.

When her father has an accident at work and loses his job, and her older brother disappears into thin air, Nazia’s pending marriage to her cousin from the village is put on hold while she and her mother take up (shamefully) work as maids for the wealthy women on the other side of the city.

Things get worse. Her brother steals her dowry and her father has no intention of going back to work, preferring his new-found freedom and being supported in his drinking and gambling habits by the women in his life. Nazia has to face the ugly truth that is her family and grow up overnight.

This is a short story you could read in one sitting but is by no means light. For my daughter, who is of a similar age and also has family in Pakistan, I hope it highlights the plight that some children must undergo just to have food on their table each night. On the positive side, it also emphasizes what is attainable in life if you are willing to fight for it, no matter what the barriers may be.

[Kayleigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Under my Mother's Feet by Amjed Qamar is an amzing book about the expectations of a girl in Pakistan. Fourteen year old Nazia is a girl that has a loving family and goes to school at an all girls school. Her family but most importantly her mother is perparing her for her arranged marriage. Her dad is a constuction worker and her mother is a housewife, but sadly one day her dad comes home injured but luckily the mom can still help her family with her sowing job. There is no one to support the family and family matters at home, so things worsen rapidly. Nazia is pulled out of school to look after her younger siblings whilst her mother cleans houses. The workload increases for Nazia's mother and she pulls Nazia in to clean houses as well. Nazia extremely yearns to finish her education yet her mother pushes on harder to make her stay ans clean the houses. Later on in the story, Nazia's drowy is stolen, the Father loses the rent money, and sadly they also lose their hose. Read this amazing book to discover what happens to Nazia.

I think the theme of this book is that you should always be there to help and support you mother through thick and thin. Nazia cleaned houses with her mother even though she wanted to go to school and even though she had other life plans she wanted to fulfill.

Out of 5 stars I give this a book a 3.5. This book I recommend to people to like to read about different cultures around the world and what they expect the women to do .

[Kira Nerys · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fairly good read for learning about another culture, but not a very uplifting book. Skimming the reviews I started thinking of the film La noire de... and this lifestyle of servants in wealthy homes of a different ethnicity (even though this book took place in Pakistan and the film in Senegal and France). This story feels realistic--I'm not qualified to say if it is--which makes it rather sad. Unfortunately, my faith in the author was shaken early on by a contradiction in which Nazia says her father broke his leg and her mother says, 2 pages later, that it's not broken. It was a small thing probably meant to highlight Nazia's ignorance, but I as the reader was supposed to trust both characters and this contradiction instead left me feeling like they were unreliable. Nazia became more likeable as the storyline progressed; her innocence and ignorance felt contrived at the beginning of the book, as though the author couldn't wait for her to mature. Truthfully, I think I'm writing this review more harshly than I intended. The narratives that play out feel honest--what woman does not know some form of betrayal at the hands of a man? Who cannot relate to caring for a friend who feels like a sibling? Qamar was hobbled by molding this book into an educational tool about Pakistani culture alongside its plot, and I firmly believe that in a future book she will work out a better balance of those two goals.

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reviewed by Cat for TeensReadToo.com

Which path should you take when faced with the choice between your own dreams and the needs of the people you love most?

That is precisely the dilemma facing Amjed Qamar's fourteen-year-old protagonist, Nazia, in her debut novel, BENEATH MY MOTHER'S FEET. When her father is injured on the job, Nazia's world is thrown into chaos when she must quit school to help her mother clean houses in order to earn a living for her family. Nazia is forced to deal with ever-increasing burdens, leading her to question beliefs she once accepted as absolute and confront an unknown future that previously seemed so certain.

The best stories are those with universal themes to which anyone can relate, with enough unique details and fresh perspectives to keep the reader's interest, and Qamar does this with an expert's grace. Her writing is spare and elegant, giving readers an insider's view into daily life in modern-day Pakistan. The characters are like any flesh and blood human being -- loving, devoted, but not without their flaws, and anyone looking for a young female lead boasting a driving force beyond boys, designer labels, or social status will be thrilled with Qamar's central character.

BENEATH MY MOTHER'S FEET is a spectacular, thought-provoking work of fiction that will stay with the reader long after the story's end.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in Pakistan, Beneath My Mother's Feet is the novel of the ever-dutiful daughter, Nazia, as her family's troubles push her towards making a difficult, life-changing decision. When her father is injured on the job, Nazia's life changes. After several weeks of her father not working, Nazia and her mother are 'forced' to seek work--work cleaning houses, a job with no respect, shameful at its very core. Nazia is angry that her father is allowing this to happen. That he's allowing her mother to pull her out of school so she can work as a maid in three or four households. The fact that her older brother conveniently disappeared so he wouldn't have to bring home money to support the family, only adds to everyone's frustration. The world we see in the novel is one where women work--slave over their work even--to provide for the lazy men in their lives. It's an unpleasant world, one where happiness isn't even considered possible in marriage. Men mean one thing T-R-O-U-B-L-E. Nazia is disappointed again and again by the men in her life--her father, her brother, her uncle. Could she be making the realization that the only person she can rely on is herself? What does Nazia want out of her life? And what is she willing to do to get what she wants? Will she go for her dreams even if it means disobeying her parents? Disappointing them?

[Ivy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short novel that tells the story of Nazias life in Pakistan. She lives comfortably in a small home with her family when one day her father is injured at work and her mother and her are forced to work as maids. Among that time their prized stored jewels are stolen, her father goes missing, they get kicked out of their home and she is forced to leave school. This book was amazingly written and seeing all the struggles that Nazia goes through and how she and her family lives makes me realize how lucky I am to have what I have. Also it opens my eyes to see how life in Pakistan drastically differs from life in America and how truly free we are. In Pakistan women are not viewed as much of importance, they do not get to choose their destiny, they are entered into arranged marriages, and work hard for a few hundred rupees (which isn't much when converted into US dollars). It opens my eyes to the hardships many people face around the world. I really enjoyed this novel and learned a few Urdu words along the way and now my Pakistan friend calls me "Baji" meaning older sister. ^_^

[Gayle Cappelluti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reminiscent of Nadia Hashimi's books, in the way a young adult novel can mirror an adult version treating similar subject matter, Beneath My Mother's Feet reminds the reader of the hardships faced by girls and women in the Middle East. What's more, it made me particularly grateful for having been born in Brooklyn, New York, land of the free and home of the brave. where even when I had things especially rough, I never had to worry that my mother would pull me from school so that I could help her work as a maid to earn money for the family. I didn't have to fear being given in marriage and losing my opportunity to study. I never had to fear losing my choices and my childhood, trading them in for financial gains to repay my father's theft of goods in the home where my services were required to feed my younger siblings.
This book was powerful, moving, and infuriating. It made me feel. It outraged me. It made me want to cange the world. Not bad, huh?