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poojasinghco's review against another edition
4.0
"Hellfire" by Leesa Gazi, translated from Bengali by Shabnam Nadiya, one of the most exhilarating debuts, is a story of two sisters, Lovely and Beauty, who have been forced to stay in their house all their lives by tenor mother Farida Khanam. So when Lovely turns forty, and her mother allows her to go out on her own to explore the bazaars, Lovely could not help but take up the offer, but as she ventures out in the streets of Dhaka, a voice in her head, that has long been made a home there, directs her to a deep dark place, and what follows is a twisted tale of toxic family ties, faith, and social hierarchy.
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nini23's review
4.5
I have been searching high and low for Hellfire by Leesa Gazi, translated by Shabnam Nadiya for two + years. Originally published in Bengali with the title Rourob in 2020, Hellfire (released by Eka, Westland Publications) was the English translation by Shabnam Nadiya in the same year. The ebook edition I found was released in December 2023 under a new title 'Good Girls' published by Amazon Crossing. Although I detest Amazon and have been largely successful in avoiding using their services, I succumbed in unexpectedly finding this otherwise inaccessible book. The jacket cover art from Amazon shows it's hastily slapped together with a standard Getty image, the Hellfire jacket art looks infinitely better.
So was it all worth it after the long anticipation? Definitely. Leesa Gazi has written a taut gripping novel. From the time Lovely is given permission and steps out of her house unaccompanied for the first time in forty years, I feel like I am holding my breath in suspense. This short novel (?novella) is self-contained within the space of the family household and what turns out into a momentous day of Lovely's fortieth birthday. We are given a skillful fly on the wall overview of how the household typically operates; everything is under the strict control and purview of the matriarch of the family Farida Khanam. At first she just seems to be a perfectionist and helicopter parent to her two daughters but with elucidation of past circumstances, the control she craves over everything and everyone in her orbit spills into the extreme and abnormal.
This is a female-centric led story, the males like the girls' father Mukheles are almost an afterthought. Interestingly, the voice in Lovely's head is a male one. I have just come off reading a Korean novel where the daughter became a North Korean spy due to her mother's unconscious influence. Here I am struck again by how much Beauty and Lovely's worldviews and lives are shaped by their mother while she in turn was molded by the words and behaviour of her mother and grandmother.
To say anymore would be to spoil and reading Hellfire is an experience best fresh and unencumbered by others' impressions. I am thoroughly satisfied with it, even the ending.
So was it all worth it after the long anticipation? Definitely. Leesa Gazi has written a taut gripping novel. From the time Lovely is given permission and steps out of her house unaccompanied for the first time in forty years, I feel like I am holding my breath in suspense. This short novel (?novella) is self-contained within the space of the family household and what turns out into a momentous day of Lovely's fortieth birthday. We are given a skillful fly on the wall overview of how the household typically operates; everything is under the strict control and purview of the matriarch of the family Farida Khanam. At first she just seems to be a perfectionist and helicopter parent to her two daughters but with elucidation of past circumstances, the control she craves over everything and everyone in her orbit spills into the extreme and abnormal.
This is a female-centric led story, the males like the girls' father Mukheles are almost an afterthought. Interestingly, the voice in Lovely's head is a male one. I have just come off reading a Korean novel where the daughter became a North Korean spy due to her mother's unconscious influence. Here I am struck again by how much Beauty and Lovely's worldviews and lives are shaped by their mother while she in turn was molded by the words and behaviour of her mother and grandmother.
To say anymore would be to spoil and reading Hellfire is an experience best fresh and unencumbered by others' impressions. I am thoroughly satisfied with it, even the ending.
_askthebookbug's review against another edition
5.0
// Hellfire by @leesagazi
Hellfire by Leesa Gazi is a stunning book that has a very dark undertone to it. The start is seemingly normal yet astonishing when Lovely, a forty year old woman steps outside of her house alone for the very first time. She feels fear and anxiety as she goes to the market, a million thoughts racing in her head about all the other places she can visit. Mentally, she feels like a teenager but outwardly she's just an awkward middle aged woman. Lovely is still shocked by her mother's kindness for being let outside alone and she can't help but feel sad that her sister, Beauty isn't with her to enjoy this sliver of freedom. This story takes place in a single day with Gazi giving us a peek of this strange family's past ever so often.
Lovely and Beauty grew up under the hawk like gaze of their mother. They have no friends, no husbands and no freedom. The two women start seeing nothing wrong in their mother's behaviour after years of being confined. Farida, the mother however loves her daughters fiercely because why else would she protect them so hard? The story unravels during Lovely's unexpected journey to the city on her birthday, Gazi cleverly divulging details of their past as well as the present day events. Secrets are disclosed, drawing sharp breaths from the readers. This novel, which initially seems straightforward has a complexity to it in the way the characters are woven. The jealousy and cunningness that exists between women, the poisonous words dipped in honey uttered to each other; all of these are laid bare in the story. Relationships are often not what they appear to be and Gazi explores exactly this.
This book would perhaps be a perfect fit for mental health month. There's a lot to unpack from this story, the end most assuredly taking the story to different heights. I recommend this.
Hellfire by Leesa Gazi is a stunning book that has a very dark undertone to it. The start is seemingly normal yet astonishing when Lovely, a forty year old woman steps outside of her house alone for the very first time. She feels fear and anxiety as she goes to the market, a million thoughts racing in her head about all the other places she can visit. Mentally, she feels like a teenager but outwardly she's just an awkward middle aged woman. Lovely is still shocked by her mother's kindness for being let outside alone and she can't help but feel sad that her sister, Beauty isn't with her to enjoy this sliver of freedom. This story takes place in a single day with Gazi giving us a peek of this strange family's past ever so often.
Lovely and Beauty grew up under the hawk like gaze of their mother. They have no friends, no husbands and no freedom. The two women start seeing nothing wrong in their mother's behaviour after years of being confined. Farida, the mother however loves her daughters fiercely because why else would she protect them so hard? The story unravels during Lovely's unexpected journey to the city on her birthday, Gazi cleverly divulging details of their past as well as the present day events. Secrets are disclosed, drawing sharp breaths from the readers. This novel, which initially seems straightforward has a complexity to it in the way the characters are woven. The jealousy and cunningness that exists between women, the poisonous words dipped in honey uttered to each other; all of these are laid bare in the story. Relationships are often not what they appear to be and Gazi explores exactly this.
This book would perhaps be a perfect fit for mental health month. There's a lot to unpack from this story, the end most assuredly taking the story to different heights. I recommend this.
jouljet's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
og_tomatogirl's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
xoopa's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
What a tense read. I was so anxious all the while I was reading this book
quicksilvermoon's review against another edition
4.0
Another one picked up in the mad rush of The Bookworm's closing sales. For some reason, though they are completely different beasts, it had me thinking of the one I just finished (Rumaysa). I mean, turbulent Muslim girls imprisoned at home by overprotective maternal figures, it’s hard not to see the similarities.
In Hellfire, we see two women, Lovely and Beauty, practically living under house arrest, under the watchful eyes of their mother, the formidable Farida Begum. On Lovely’s 40th birthday, she gets the unprecedented permission to make an excursion to Gawsia Market. This is a stone flung so hard at the placid waters of a life they had been used to, that the entire system comes crashing down. Although the main action takes place in the course of a single day, the narrative weaves back and forth between past and present, switching perspectives from Lovely to Beauty to Farida Begum, peeling back the sordid layers and the dirty secrets of this strange little family, until the shocking end seems only inevitable.
Leesa Gazi manages to spin a fascinating yarn about tradition and repression, madness and desire. And not that a writer of Shabnam Nadiya's calibre requires my endorsement, but her translation somehow made me hear the cadence of the original Bangla without detracting from the enjoyment of reading it in English. A fantastic piece of work!
In Hellfire, we see two women, Lovely and Beauty, practically living under house arrest, under the watchful eyes of their mother, the formidable Farida Begum. On Lovely’s 40th birthday, she gets the unprecedented permission to make an excursion to Gawsia Market. This is a stone flung so hard at the placid waters of a life they had been used to, that the entire system comes crashing down. Although the main action takes place in the course of a single day, the narrative weaves back and forth between past and present, switching perspectives from Lovely to Beauty to Farida Begum, peeling back the sordid layers and the dirty secrets of this strange little family, until the shocking end seems only inevitable.
Leesa Gazi manages to spin a fascinating yarn about tradition and repression, madness and desire. And not that a writer of Shabnam Nadiya's calibre requires my endorsement, but her translation somehow made me hear the cadence of the original Bangla without detracting from the enjoyment of reading it in English. A fantastic piece of work!
mehrangezmr's review against another edition
5.0
This is excellent, a slim Gothic thriller about a pair of repressed Bangladeshi sisters growing up under the thumb of their tyrannical mother. Dhaka is brought to life vividly as is the claustrophobic environs of the house which Lovely and Beauty rarely leave (and when they do it is with shattering repercussions). Read this in a matter of hours... Could not recommend it more highly.
allthatissim's review against another edition
4.0
Hellfire is my first translated read of the year and what a thought-provoking and phenomenal read it is! This book was originally written in Bengali and the author is Bangladeshi.
Hellfire is a story of a controlling mother and her two adult daughters in their late 30s. Their mother has always controlled them. They never went out of the house on their own. So when the elder sister, Lovely, goes out of the house alone for the first time, on her 40th birthday, the house is in chaos. Farida Khanam, the mother, couldn’t understand why she gave her permission to Lovely to go out. And the younger sister, Beauty, couldn’t understand how her sister was allowed to go out of the house though she herself never got that chance. What we see afterwards, in a span of 24 hours, is a family full of chaos and secrets.
The story is character oriented and in Farida, we see a woman who wanted to be the matriarch of the family. The decisions she took to protect her family and her daughters, the choices she made, and the sacrifices she gave to be what she was today. But at the same time, the story also shows how it resulted in failure and collateral damage because of her need to be in power.
The setting is of Bangladesh so it does feels similar to Indian household. Most of the Indian mothers are controlling too but I can’t imagine a mother being this much control-freak
Hellfire is a story of a controlling mother and her two adult daughters in their late 30s. Their mother has always controlled them. They never went out of the house on their own. So when the elder sister, Lovely, goes out of the house alone for the first time, on her 40th birthday, the house is in chaos. Farida Khanam, the mother, couldn’t understand why she gave her permission to Lovely to go out. And the younger sister, Beauty, couldn’t understand how her sister was allowed to go out of the house though she herself never got that chance. What we see afterwards, in a span of 24 hours, is a family full of chaos and secrets.
The story is character oriented and in Farida, we see a woman who wanted to be the matriarch of the family. The decisions she took to protect her family and her daughters, the choices she made, and the sacrifices she gave to be what she was today. But at the same time, the story also shows how it resulted in failure and collateral damage because of her need to be in power.
The setting is of Bangladesh so it does feels similar to Indian household. Most of the Indian mothers are controlling too but I can’t imagine a mother being this much control-freak