{Read It & Reap 138} A Deconstructed Heart by Shaheen Ashraf-Ahmed

[Lys]

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Title: A Deconstructed Heart
Author: Shaheen Ashraf-Ahmed
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Formats Available: : PDF
Pages: 160

Synopsis:

Mirza is a middle-aged Indian college professor whose wife has left him. He moves out of his house into a tent in his back garden, where he sets up an outdoor classroom and serves tea to his kind but bewildered neighbors. He is visited by the irritable spirit of his long-dead teacher, Khan Sahib, who is befuddled by the dysfunctions of modern life.

In the north of England, Mirza's niece, Amal, is finishing up her last year of college before she is expected to join her parents in their new home in India. Asked by her father to talk her uncle back into his senses, she moves into Mirza's house, and they soon are connected by their shared loneliness. She meets Rehan, Mirza's student, and is intrigued by the path of certainty he has built over his own loss and loneliness--a certainty that is threatened by his growing feelings for her.

When Rehan disappears, Amal's suffering forces Mirza to face the world once more. Together, Mirza and Amal must come to a new understanding of what it means to be an immigrant family when the old traditions have unraveled.

A Deconstructed Heart is a novella that explores the breakdown and rebuilding in one immigrant family trying to adapt: how lines in families and cultures are forcibly redrawn, how empty space can be reframed by a tent into a new definition of home... but how, no matter how hard we may try to forget, the past refuses to be contained.

Shut Up and Read Interview with the Author: http://shutupandreadgroup.blogspot.co...
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Review Due Date: Thursday, May 30th

Reviewers:

1. Aurora ((extra time)
2. Jason

[[deleted user]]

I'm not sure how to do this, just post my email address here? svet_chick@yahoo.ca

Epub or pdf please

[Shaheen]

Alyssia,

I am sending Aurora a pdf copy. Aurora will need more time to write a review, so please do not hold her to the May 30 deadline in this case. Thanks!

[[deleted user]]

Thanks Shaheen :)

[Shaheen]

You're very welcome. Happy reading!

[Lys]

Alright. Thanks for letting me know. :)

[Jason]

If this is still available.

scriptor.capitonis@gmail.com

[Lys]

Jason wrote: "If this is still available.

scriptor.capitonis@gmail.com"

Sent!

[Jason]

Thank you :)

[Jason]

Shaheen,

What an eloquently told tale! I loved your evocative word use, almost like a painting in words at moments. It will take me a day or so to fully digest the story and write a fitting review, but I wanted to give a quick note to say well done and thank you!

[Shaheen]

Thanks so much, Jason. I am really glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for offering to review too!

[Lys]

Shaheen, I just wanted to add, I too love the poetry of your words. You write beautifully.

[Shaheen]

Thanks, Alyssia, I'm honored you chose to read my work :)

[Jason]

Shaheen,

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read and review your book. I have already told several friends who have expressed interest in reading your story (I've steered them to Amazon). Here is my review:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

http://cleverfoilhat.blogspot.com/201...

I will post the link to Amazon as soon as it is available. I have tried to post this review to Amazon four times over the past two days, changing it each time based on their incredibly vague reasons why they won't approve it. I submitted a review (3-star) on another book yesterday that went right through; perhaps Amazon doesn't like the fact that I wrote a 5-star review for A Deconstructed Heart.

Edit 6-4-2013: Apparently persistence does pay off--Amazon accepted my review finally.

http://www.amazon.com/review/R1TBYPJU...

[Shaheen]

Thanks so much, Jason: I'm really flattered that you liked it, and I appreciate you telling your friends. Always great to get a thoughtful review.

[Jason]

Shaheen wrote: "Thanks so much, Jason: I'm really flattered that you liked it, and I appreciate you telling your friends. Always great to get a thoughtful review."

Shaheen,

My pleasure. Reading ADH was a drink of cool water amid the dry prose that I've been consuming lately; very refreshing.

Cheers!
Jason

[Shaheen]

Jason wrote: "Shaheen,

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read and review your book. I have already told several friends who have expressed interest in reading your story (I've steered them to Amazon)...."

Thanks for trying, Jason. Amazon doesn't want my head to get too big, I guess ;)