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A review by lydiastorytime
A People's History of Heaven by Mathangi Subramanian
4.0
I enjoyed many parts of this book. It’s certainly more character driven than plot driven. Sometimes it got slow. Probably a good read in like small chunks. The story’s are enjoyable but the stakes don’t really feel high. I wish there was more of a point of view, I didn’t feel as inside the stories world as I’d like.
It kind of reminded me of listening to my grandmother tell stories about the poor community she grew up in Appalachia. I related so much to the characters and the experience of girlhood. I grew up in white American Christian communities but so many themes were the same. On the other hand it was interesting to see how other cultures and religions oppress women but basically just in a different font. Also the ways the women in this book took bits of their power back and used the little they had to build community. Lots of lovely mother daughter dynamics I wished I related to. I really appreciate the clear picture of how stuck communities can become in poverty and how governments give the littlest crumbs only to take more. This book displays many heart breaking and infuriating injustices but the overall feeling is rather hopeful. Sometimes this was nice but other times it felt disingenuous. Idk I hope there are communities like this. Maybe it’s made to be more accessible to younger audiences.
It just seemed maybe filtered. Idk perhaps some communities do protect women and girls better than what I expect. But there was only really one small mention of physical abuse that was resolved quickly. It’s made clear how much power the men have but they seemed to abuse it only within a perimeter. Idk it’s hard for me to believe sexual assault would not have more of an effect on these girls and women. Like we only really see one woman struggling mentally… perhaps it’s because it’s in third person it feels like we don’t really get to connect to the internal struggle of the characters.
I think the point is to provide the view that even people in difficult circumstances can have a beautiful life. Though I think that can be done even in stories that show characters hurting in a more personal way.
It kind of reminded me of listening to my grandmother tell stories about the poor community she grew up in Appalachia. I related so much to the characters and the experience of girlhood. I grew up in white American Christian communities but so many themes were the same. On the other hand it was interesting to see how other cultures and religions oppress women but basically just in a different font. Also the ways the women in this book took bits of their power back and used the little they had to build community. Lots of lovely mother daughter dynamics I wished I related to. I really appreciate the clear picture of how stuck communities can become in poverty and how governments give the littlest crumbs only to take more. This book displays many heart breaking and infuriating injustices but the overall feeling is rather hopeful. Sometimes this was nice but other times it felt disingenuous. Idk I hope there are communities like this. Maybe it’s made to be more accessible to younger audiences.
It just seemed maybe filtered. Idk perhaps some communities do protect women and girls better than what I expect. But there was only really one small mention of physical abuse that was resolved quickly. It’s made clear how much power the men have but they seemed to abuse it only within a perimeter. Idk it’s hard for me to believe sexual assault would not have more of an effect on these girls and women. Like we only really see one woman struggling mentally… perhaps it’s because it’s in third person it feels like we don’t really get to connect to the internal struggle of the characters.
I think the point is to provide the view that even people in difficult circumstances can have a beautiful life. Though I think that can be done even in stories that show characters hurting in a more personal way.