News, author interviews, critics' picks and more. a place for us book club culture family epic Fatima farheen Mirza religion. As Amar struggles to find his place in the family, the novel explores how we show love or let each other down, and the things and words that get lost or remain unsaid. Despite my initial frustration with the book, by the end, I was fully invested in this story with a pile of tissues nearby. Amar begins to spiral and starts drinking at a nearby bar. Their mother, Layla is frantically running around, attending to guests, making sure that her daughter’s event flows smoothly. How did you interpret the title of A Place for Us?Does this "place" refer to family, culture, community, or religion? Amar recalls a guy named Simon, who survived the car accident that Abbas was in. A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza has been the belle of the ball lately, adorned in a gilded gold and violet cover and making the rounds with Sarah Jessica Parker in a full-out promotional blitz, complete with stylish matching totes. A Place for Us is a book for our times: an astonishingly tender-hearted novel of identity and belonging, and a resonant portrait of what it means to be an American family today. Have you read books with alternating or jumping timelines that you have liked? An older Rafiq is admitted into the hospital where Hadia is working. Do you think Hadia feels jealous that Amar actually did something about his feelings? I liked her approach and didn’t find it confusing. He actively puts in effort to pretend as if he no longer loves her. After a time shift, I was no longer invested in the story but merely trying to discern what time-frame the book was now operating in, dampening any emotional impact. Abba's sudden death from a car accident heavily affected both Hadia and Amar. Rafiq reflects on his relationship with Amar, and blames himself for him running away. From there, the book provides revealing glimpses into this Indian-American Muslim family living in the Bay Area. The novel focuses on an Indian-Muslim family living in Northern California, striving to find a balance between tradition and modernity. The impact of the novel is dependent on very intentionally crafted and nuanced plot elements. I loved this novel. It’s probably my age, but I thought Layla and Rafik were the most interesting and best-written members of the family! We me My full review on: mariesbookboutique.wordpress.com So when it was my next book you can image how excited I was!! Layla travels back home to Hyderabad, India without the rest of her family. I found the story very intelligently crafted and emotionally resonant — though sadly, no, not an awe-inducing miracle. What secrets and betrayals have caused this close-knit family to fracture? "A Place for Us," the debut novel from Fatima Farheen Mirza, is the first to be published by Sarah Jessica Parker's imprint, SJP for Hogarth. The actual events of the novel are surprising unremarkable from an objective point of view, yet somehow feel like a punch in gut in the context of the book. Through the nuances of her writing, Fatima Farheen Mirza depicts complex, multidimensional characters. A Place for Us Essay Topics 1. He sits outside the venue trying to recover so he can go back for his sister. If it only happened a handful of times, it wouldn’t have been bothersome. I read so many with alternating timelines that work fine — I think this book sort of purposely leaves the reader confused and needing to “figure out” where they are by only indicating clearly what time frame it’s in like 2 pages into a time shift because it’s trying to enhance the feeling of a “reveal” when you figure it out, but it just ends up being really irritating. A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza is the story of one immigrant family trying to find a place in American society. (As an aside, I think that Washington Post review would be more properly titled, “Sarah Jessica Parker thinks celebrity appearances and free goodies are enough to garner over-hyped positive reviews. In A Place For Us, fairly everyday things, the small betrayals and disappointments, will leave you feeling emotionally gutted. 2. A Place for Us NPR coverage of A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza. So, it really depends on what type of reading mood you’re in. He debates telling Amira but does not want to impact the way she thinks of him. Rather than accepting an arranged marriage, Hadia decides to build her life with a man of her choice, Tariq. [4][5], Fatima Farheen Mirza was born in California in 1991. ", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A_Place_for_Us&oldid=985455261, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Print (hardcover and paperback), e-book, audiobook, This page was last edited on 26 October 2020, at 01:45. How does the parenting of the children affect the siblings' relationships? This results in her going to the Ali house to talk to Amira’s mom to expose their children’s relationship. A Place at the Table was produced by Participant Media, the same company that also produced other popular documentaries like Food, Inc. and Waiting for Superman.. About A Place For Us A Place for Us unfolds the lives of an Indian-American Muslim family, gathered together in their Californian hometown to celebrate the eldest daughter, Hadia’s, wedding–a match of love rather than tradition. Instead of reading a book, it was 200 pages of “Where’s Waldo” in a search for clues about the character’s ages. Hadia is now a respected doctor and a mother of two. During a wedding of someone from their community, Amira and Amar meet to go on a private walk on the seventieth floor. Book Summary The first novel from Sarah Jessica Parker's new imprint, SJP for Hogarth, A Place for Us is a deeply moving and resonant story of love, identity and belonging. A Place for Us is a major accomplishment, a work of real … It is here, on this momentous day, that Amar, the youngest of the siblings, reunites with his family for the first time in three years. Amira is the younger sister of Abbas, and the romantic interest of Amar. Huda is the middle sibling, and is generally on the outskirts of the chaos going around. A Place for Us is an emotional read about a Muslim American family struggling with tradition and culture. Readers are only given certain glimpses of Huda's life, causing her to be seen as a side character to the drama surrounding the rest of her family. I’m also guessing a fair amount of people will end up giving up on the book due to the confusion. Readers are shown snippets of Layla's life from when she is first discussing a potential proposal in India with her younger sister, to her and Rafiq's married life with children. A Place for Us is not an effortless read, but it is an empathetic and ultimately rewarding story about an immigrant family. He struggles to find his place within his family, causing him to feel like he is looking at his family from an outsider's perspective. Happy reading! Part three opens back up at Hadia’s wedding. Huda, the middle child, determined to follow in her sister’s footsteps. His wavering relationship with religion ends up placing a strain on his relationship with his parents. Has X event happened yet? Amar realises that he is exhausted at being angry and cries into his father’s arms. She graduated from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she was a recipient of the Michener-Copernicus Fellowship.[6]. I appreciated how understated but powerful the drama is, lending it credulity and realism, and the shifting narration works well here. He knows that even if he finds another woman, he will always care for Amira. As an Indian wedding gathers a family back together, parents Rafiq and Layla must reckon with the choices their children have made. As an Indian wedding gathers a family back together, parents Rafiq and Layla must reckon with the choices their children have made. Join the Book Club Chat Newsletter NPR‘s Michael Schuab describes it as a “miracle.” The Washington Posts‘s Ron Charles reviewed it, too (obnoxiously entitled “Sarah Jessica Parker thinks she knows what you should read. Parker chose the book for her inaugural release for SJP for Hogarth, a sub-imprint of Penguin Random House, and she’s been hawking the book all over instagram, various large bookstores and the morning news. “A Place for Us is a stunning novel about love, compassion, cruelty and forgiveness — the very things that make families what they are…[Mirza’s] writing is gorgeous, unadorned but beautiful… a miracle of a book. It’s an uncomfortable family reunion. They tell him that Rafiq looks like a terrorist, and Amar throws the first punch at one of the boys. This is a book that covers a lot of ground from sibling dynamics to parenting choices and the impact of race and religion. http://the-bibliofile.com/a-place-for-us-timeline-and-ages/. Or, if at least the majority of the time shifts had a little more clarity earlier on then it probably wouldn’t have been a problem for me. Thanks for dropping by! Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Did you read this book or are you thinking about it? Why do you think Amar wanted that box? Once the plot evens out, A Place for Us becomes surprisingly coherent and purposeful. While some people may not mind getting the “gist” of things and moving on, each part that I couldn’t place into its exact context grated at me (eventually I just wrote out the timeline, see the Detailed Plot Summary, below). Amar stops by Amira’s room, both of them finding the slightest comfort in each other’s presence. ** Now she delivers a piercing new novel about the secrets and lies that could shatter a close-knit family... Brook Bostock has led a privileged life. I think I’m probably just a little OCD about wanting to understand when precisely each thing happens. Your reviews are so detailed–love it! While a few strategic jumps could have easily been effective, very quickly the over-eager time jumping every few pages started to get old. Hadia decides to invite their estranged brother, Amar, who returns after 3 years of no communication with his family. She’s right.“), and describes how “awed” he was and what a “privilege” it was to “dwell among its characters” — at this point, my bullshit detector started going off like crazy. It’s an immigrant story I’ve never heard before, and simultaneously a universally applicable story about finding home. Hadia and Huda sitting together cross-legged, eyes-lighting up in awe from the fireworks, a young Amar is leaning against his mother, eyes wide in wonder. The book touches upon the topic of being Muslim in a post-9/11 world, though with a light hand. Your email address will not be published. and thanks for dropping by! She thinks about what her understanding of jealousy is by listening to her mother’s comments about other women, and how she feels about other girls talking about Abbas. A Place for Us opens with return of the prodigal son, Amar, to attend the wedding of his older sister. A Place for Us (Book) : Gyllenhaal, Liza : Liza Gyllenhaal is a gifted new writer* who's captivated readers with her talent for plumb[ing] the complexity of human emotions. At a family dinner, the last one before Hadia leaves for medical school, Hadia asks anyone if they have seen her watch, which results in Rafiq accusing Amar. And while tradition or customs may stir up tensions in this book, the things that really tear this family apart are basic and universal. As Hadia prepares to marry a man she chose for herself, her Indian family tries to reconnect after a painful past drove them apart. What does that say about her? The first half of the book liberally jumps forwards and backwards in time, from narrator to narrator, often shedding new light on previously described scenes. The following book club questions will have spoilers so if you haven’t read the novel yet, check out my preview and review first. A Place for Us unfolds the lives of an Indian-American Muslim family, gathered together in their Californian hometown to celebrate the eldest daughter, Hadia's, wedding - a match of love rather than tradition. Part four is from Rafiq's perspective, he is speaking to Amar as if he was there with beside him. ), the resources below will generally offer A Place for Us chapter summaries, quotes, and analysis of themes, characters, and symbols. The audience is given glimpses of the family life from the beginning, from Layla finding out about Rafiq’s proposal, to t… Is this a small child asking a question or a full grown adult? A Place for Us is very insightful and moving. Why does Amar ask his father to shave his beard? Can Amar find his way back to the people who know and love him best? A Place for Us opens with return of the prodigal son, Amar, to attend the wedding of his older sister. What does Hadia's decision to wear a hijab mean? Layla finds a box in Amar’s room containing a photo of Amira, she panics and thinks that Amira will be a distraction for Amar. How do you think his father should have responded? Readers are given glimpses of Rafiq's life when he and his newlywed wife migrated to America. In addition to stories of real individuals struggling with food insecurity, the documentary also includes interviews with a variety of food policy experts and activists. A Place for Us is a major accomplishment, a work of real … I’m a writer trying to figure out if I’ve made a mess of a story or not. Layla describes to the kids the idea of sin being a stain on your heart, which gets bigger the more you sin. 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