Zuleikha took me too long to read. I saw it on a list of upcoming translations before it was published, preordered it, took forever to pick it up, and put it down and picked it up over the course of months. This novel is incredibly heart wrenching. It is hard to read at times, especially Yakhina’s reveals the repression of many and the gross mismanagement that cause so much hurt and loss of life. It was really hard to read at time when I mostly want to read to escape the realities of life. And yet this novel is about love and family, hope and redemption, and forgiveness and ultimately the incredible human capacity for love and good in spite of everything. I can’t deny that I started crying at the end. The characters and prose are poignantly crafted and haunting. There may be some things I didn’t love about this novel, but I can’t help giving it 5 stars and telling you to go read it, now.