Heyloo readers!!! Me and my twin
recently read two different, unique stories and also the bestsellers of 2017 and
we decided to share our reviews for you guys. Below are the reviews of two
amazing books, This house of Clay and Water and Three Daughters of Eve. Enjoy
and let us know how you found them!
I am always looking for great stories,
novels because reading is something I completely believe in. Got nothing to do? Read! Got lot’s to do?
Read ! Reading is probably the best therapy ever invented and I would never
exchange it for anything else.
Two weeks back, I came across an
article that had listed 2017’s best read novels. Amazing article and I would
totally put the link right here so you can also find the list too. https://www.vagabomb.com/VagabombPicks-The-Best-Book-Releases-from-June-2017
So yes coming back to my story, I went
through the list and came across the book I wanted to read then, This House of
Clay and Water. The short review looked amazing . I went to my favorite store,
Readings, here in Lahore, and thank God found the book. I completed reading the
book just a few days back and loved it. Such an amazing tale, unique and
beautifully written. Below is a short review for you to decide for yourself J
The Story:
The story is set in Lahore and it starts with
the story of Nida. Nida is married and her husband and in-laws are well off. On
the surface, life seems to be comfortable and nice, but there seems to be an
emptiness in Nida’s life. The story goes back and forth in time, as we find out
more about Nida’s past and try to discover clues to find out why she feels the
way she does. Nida goes to the Daata Sahib Dargah sometimes, to calm her
spirit, and there, one day, she meets Sasha. Sasha is a free spirit and though
she is married and has two young daughters, she rebels against the confines of
marriage and goes out with different men who make her feel special. Nida and
Sasha meet Bhanggi, in the dargah. Bhanggi is a hijra, a hermaphrodite. His life
in the past has been hard, but these days he sits under the banyan tree and
plays the flute. People assemble to listen to him and they also come to pray
for and receive his blessings, because he is regarded as a qalandar, a Sufi
saint. A beautiful friendship blossoms between Nida and Bhanggi and it looks
like it would flower into something more. The rest of the story is about how
the friendship between Nida and Bhanggi and Nida and Sasha evolve and what
happens between them and their families. Well, I am not going to tell you more.
You should read the book for yourself and find out what happens next.
I loved
‘This
House of Clay and Water‘. It is an, unconventional, unique love
story, a spiritual love story. It is also a story about families and human
relationships. It is a brilliant, debut novel and Faiqa Mansab is a
fresh, new, exciting voice in Pakistani literary fiction. It is one of my
favorite books of the year and I can’t wait to find out what she comes up with
next.
The next novel is Elif Shafak's, Three Daughters of Eve. Its review is right below.
Its been almost two years now since
i have been following Eliff Shafak's work. Who doesn't know her. Her remarkable
book "Fourteen rules of love" moved people to say the least. Shafak
hails from turkey so most of her work is centered there. Turkey has a very
diverse culture and her narration portrays that remarkably. There is this group
of people who are still attached to their Islamic roots and practice the
religion with full vigor and there is another one who has modernized to an
extent that the western culture has completely engulfed their lifestyles.
The plot begins in the streets of Istanbul. Peri is subjected to a robbery and an attempted rape. During the struggle, a photograph of Peri, with two other women and a man in Oxford, falls out of her bag which seems to have more importance than the robbery itself. The rest of the novel, which travels backwards through her life and forwards through the evening to come, is devoted to exploring the importance of that photograph, and exploring her mysterious relationships with the people in the picture.
Peri is a Turkish who is born in a household which is
divided by a fine line of personal believes. However Peri takes on the neutral
role as the writer conveys,“While some people were passionate believers and others
passionate non-believers, she would always remain stuck in between.”
When she gets to Oxford University her two best
female friends are the sensual, confident Iranian-born Shirin, and the modest,
religious Egyptian-American Mona. The three women together make up the Three
Daughters of Eve, or, as Shafak puts it, the sinner, the believer and the
confused.
Peri is fascinated by the meaning of divinity, and at Oxford she falls under the spell of a charismatic teacher, Azur, who runs a course on understanding God. These heartfelt theological discussions seem to be continuing debates that began in earlier books such as The Forty Rules of Love. Shafak's trademark so as to say.
The novel is yet another piece of brilliance. However a few parts of the story run flat which somehow takes your attention off the novel. But all in all it's an amazing read as can be expected from Shafak.
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