The Pearl That Broke Its Shell in Around the World in 80 Books

Aug 26, 2014 Anna rated it it was amazing

I first read this book in 2015 which I reviewed on my blog. I am now celebrating my ten year blogversary and am selecting my favourite book from each of those ten years.

If you would like to read my full review of this book please visit my blog at:

https://leftontheshelfbookblog.blogsp... ...more

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Jan 26, 2015 Dana rated it really liked it

A heartfelt novel about the plight of Afghani women a century apart. The reader cannot but be moved by the trials of young Rahima and her ancestor Shekiba. Hashimi does a marvellous job in portraying the steadfast oppression the two young women must endure in spite of the decades that separate them. More than that, it is their awareness of the injustice being done to them that makes this novel so poignant.

My favourite character, however, has to be Khala Shaima, without whom Rahima's sense of sel ...more

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Dec 08, 2015 Sunflower rated it liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, e-books, fiction-read-2015

This book has the same effect as a photograph I keep on my wall- it is of a women with her head covered, carrying a full tray of unbaked bread on her head, going down a narrow alley to the communal oven. The point of putting it on my wall is to remind me to be thankful that I was born into a different life, and this book did the same. The story of two related women born 100 years apart, the younger one inspired by her grandmother, but still subject to similar prejudice and life events over which ...more

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Apr 03, 2015 Wes F rated it liked it

Interesting perspective on the lives of various Afghan women and the hardness/difficulties and unfairness of their lives. Not completely gripping, though not a bad debut novel by a new writer.

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