by Musharraf Ali Farooqi - Knopff Canada~ Review: Halifax Herald, January 2009
Mona Ahmad is recently widowed. After the initial shock, she is surprised to find she has been left in very comfortable circumstances. She settles back into her house in Karachi, her days no longer defined by her husband’s presence. She is gently intoxicated by her new freedom.
An unexpected marriage proposal, brokered through her neighbour, disrupts Mona’s quiet widowhood. Her daughters, uncles, aunts and in-laws rush to her side, determined to protect both her and the family’s honour. Their well oiled, highly effective gossip machine springs into action and in the absence of hard facts, hearsay and innuendo suffice. Mona’s peaceful life collapses.
Surprising everyone, most of all herself, Mona rebels against tradition and remarries. The consequences of this decision lead her to a contemplation of her life so far. She questions her first marriage and the roles she willingly shouldered as wife and mother, until finally she asks a profound question of herself. The answer comes clearly as she begins to understand that her unhappiness is “a condition of her own creation”. Her path becomes clearer.
The narrator takes a back seat in this book, functioning as a keen observer whose role is to keep us informed. It is an effective technique, allowing the story to flow through the intricate nuances of family and Pakistani tradition. Farooqi’s first novel is an entertaining and touching account of a traditional woman moving toward an understanding that life can be hers for the taking.
Musharraf Ali Farooqi is a writer and translator who was born in Hyderabad, Pakistan. His first children’s book, The Cobbler’s Holiday or Why Ants Don’t Where Shoes was released in 2008. Musharraf Ali Farooqi lives in Toronto.
