'Home Fires' by Kamila Shamsie
Warning – do not read any of the many reviews (some are listed below) before reading the book – it spoils the reading experience…
Home Fires is a book I bought at the 2019 Auckland Writers festival, where Kamila Shamsie was one of the international guests. I didn’t attend any of her events but I bought the book. Picked it off the pile on one of seemingly endless rainy days. Read it within two days I just could not stop.
The opening page captivated me. A young Muslim woman trying to board a plane. The waiting. The patronising humiliating interrogation. The plane that leaves without her. Within the first page I was in that reality, I could feel the terror, the despair, the anger.
The book is fantastically well written. Gripping. Intriguing characters. One of the most gripping opening scenes, and one of the most powerful devastating ends… This book deserves a place on every must read list - to gain understanding and compassion, to get an insight into the daily trauma it is to be Muslim, man or woman, in the anglophone – and European world that’s dominated by enemy images of Muslim terrorists.
Written from changing perspectives the reader follows the development of the story from different angles, understanding the challenge of being a politician’s son, or a fatherless Muslim boy in Britain; the challenge of being a Muslim woman in any part of the world.
The book provides insight into how the deeply ingrained and systemic racism and disadvantages of immigrants increase the appeal of ISIS. The portrait of a young man recruited to join ISIS. The techniques applied to entice young men, and young girls too…
An important book. A must read. And once you’ve finished, read some of the reviews listed below.
I remember the headlines of a young New Zealand / Australian woman and her kids. The Australian government revoked her citizenship and she became a NZ ‘problem’. Oh the headlines…I wonder how she is now? Where? How is she treated? Her children? What kind of life did she have, and what life does she lead now?
New York Times
Judges comments for the winner of the Dublin Literary Award