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Kamila Shamsie

Discussion: 2017 Read Harder Challenge

Why we're reading this: A retelling of Antigone tucked inside the story of a Pakistani-British family whose children bear the ram…more
[close] A retelling of Antigone tucked inside the story of a Pakistani-British family whose children bear the ramifications of having a jihadi father.

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2017 Read Harder Challenge

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* Complete 2017 RHC Task List
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last updated Dec 15, 2016 05:50AM

* 2017 Read Harder Challenge
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last updated Dec 15, 2016 05:44AM

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What Members Thought

Oct 30, 2017 Ryan rated it really liked it

Shelves: borrowed, 2017

Beautiful and tragic; the world isn’t as clear as “us” and “them” anymore. Probably never will be again.

2 likes · Like · see review

Aug 31, 2020 Kerry rated it really liked it

This book really packs a punch! It touches on so very much. Sibling love & tension, family loyalty and betrayal. It also works in themes of the immigrant experience, terrorism, ambition, sex, love, and sacrifice. The immigrant experience plays a staring role with two very different outcomes for families that immigrated to the UK from Pakistan. Not to be outdone, there are class issues and twins!

Seriously, all these themes are dug into in this powerful and hand-wringing, and gut wrenching book. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jan 06, 2019 Jessica Haider rated it really liked it

Shelves: bipoc-author, indian-pakistani, islam, womens__prize_winners, bookriot_2019, reading-women-2019

Meets Book Riot Read Harder 2019 Challenge Task #3: A Book by a woman or AOC that won a literary award in 2018 - this book won the 2018 Women's Fiction Prize

Meets Reading Women 2019 Challenge Task #15: A book written by a South Asian author

4.5 stars!
I thoroughly enjoyed this one. It definitely dug up some emotions. The main characters in this story are British citizens of Pakistani descent. They struggle with issues of love, loyalty and finding that sense of family or home. ...more

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Aug 11, 2019 Ruth rated it really liked it

Shelves: ebooks

Picked up idly while working at the library book sale, read the last half on my phone in about 2 and a half hours. I didn't realize it was a re-telling of Antigone until close to the end, and thus was hit really hard by the tragedy. Beautifully done. ...more

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Jun 16, 2018 Susanne Clower rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction, politics, england, human-history, multiple-voices, family-life, multiple-perspectives, character-studies

I read this just after reading An American Marriage by Tayari Jones. The contrast in settings and events added something to each book, as did the similarity of looking at the obligations we feel we have to people in our lives.

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