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A review by annreadsabook
A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
If anyone asks me why I'm crying in the club, it's because of Part 4 of this book.
A Place for Us follows an Indian Muslim family living in California—the family experiences love, loss, and hardship across the years as the children come to understand themselves through the lens of their heritage and faith. Amar struggles to find a place within his family beside his high-achieving eldest sister, while Hadia deals with her own inner turmoil as the oldest child who bears the weight of her family’s needs and expectations. Each of the family members, but particularly Amar and Hadia, grapples with understanding their faith both as a means of connecting with community and as a personal commitment.
Something I loved about A Place for Us was the way in which Mirza depicts the parents’ relationship to their children. Mirza’s characterization of Rafiq, the patriarch, was so compelling in its depth and care—he is strict and often unbending in ways his children sometimes find alienating, but his love for his children nevertheless shines through. Similarly, we see Amar striving time and again to please his parents despite feeling, in many ways, constricted and underestimated by them. Mirza has crafted a beautifully three-dimensional portrait of a family trying (and often failing) to do right by each other.
If you loved Celeste Ng’s Everything I Never Told You or other books that are slow-paced and character-driven, this is right up your alley!
A Place for Us follows an Indian Muslim family living in California—the family experiences love, loss, and hardship across the years as the children come to understand themselves through the lens of their heritage and faith. Amar struggles to find a place within his family beside his high-achieving eldest sister, while Hadia deals with her own inner turmoil as the oldest child who bears the weight of her family’s needs and expectations. Each of the family members, but particularly Amar and Hadia, grapples with understanding their faith both as a means of connecting with community and as a personal commitment.
Something I loved about A Place for Us was the way in which Mirza depicts the parents’ relationship to their children. Mirza’s characterization of Rafiq, the patriarch, was so compelling in its depth and care—he is strict and often unbending in ways his children sometimes find alienating, but his love for his children nevertheless shines through. Similarly, we see Amar striving time and again to please his parents despite feeling, in many ways, constricted and underestimated by them. Mirza has crafted a beautifully three-dimensional portrait of a family trying (and often failing) to do right by each other.
If you loved Celeste Ng’s Everything I Never Told You or other books that are slow-paced and character-driven, this is right up your alley!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Death, Racism, Addiction, and Islamophobia
Minor: Car accident