Dopo molti anni di matrimonio, Rami scopre che il marito ha molte fidanzate e figl* in giro per la città. Mentre lui aveva intenzione di tenere tutto segreto, Rami decide di agire per "tenersi" il marito, ma finisce per creare qualcosa di molto più grande: lascia andare la sua disperazione e la sua rabbia per riunire tutte le fidanzate segrete in un'alleanza e far sì che il marito affronti le conseguenze costringendolo a creare ufficialmente una famiglia poligama. 

Questa non è semplicemente una storia di poligamia, come suggerirebbe il titolo, ma è sembrata una storia molto più speranzosa sulla sorellanza femminile, sulle donne che uniscono le forze per elevarsi a vicenda nonostante i loro disaccordi e persino la loro rivalità. Inoltre, la scrittura è risultata fluida anche quando si affrontano temi pesanti, e a volte anche con tocchi umoristici.

Paulina Chiziane offre certamente una trama allettante e personaggi stuzzicanti, ma allo stesso tempo espone questioni relative alla società patriarcale e una vera e propria riflessione interiore su come le donne stesse possano essere portatrici di questa cultura. 

Se siete alla ricerca di una lettura di narrativa femminista, diversificando al contempo le vostre letture in termini di autor*, credo che questo libro faccia al caso vostro e sarà una piacevole aggiunta alle vostre liste di lettura.

First of all: FUCK THE PATRIARCHY.

If you already know Mona Eltahawy and her work, you know there was no other way to start this review. I am not even going to define this as a review, because I found her work of such intelligence, empathy, and power that I feel like I am no one to judge the work, I am in literal awe of this woman, her force and power and of course this book. 

While she previously published a book concentrating on feminism in Muslim contexts, with this book Eltahawy brings her reflection on feminism on a global level, and the result is a sort of guide, each chapter a « sin » that the patriarchal societies we all live in condemn, but that she praises and call upon on all women* (she is very clear to include trans women in this group) to make them their weapons and to declare war on the patriarchy.

The order of the chapters is not casual either, but they are ordered from the least to most important: I was fascinated and never felt more empowered and enraged than after exiting her book presentation which I had the chance to attend in Italy. The feeling of reappropriating my anger, and understanding that my anger not only is valid, but is necessary, moved me to tears, and I will never stop being grateful for this gift. 

Another aspect of the book and her presentation (just one of many, I could write pages and pages about this book), is her definition of feminism as not wanting equality to men, but freedom. The reflection is that not the majority of men are free - the only truly free people in our racist, classist, patriarchal societies are white, cis, heterosexual, and super-rich men. Consequently, why aspire to be equal to someone who is not free? And that explains why she put the most important sin, lust. Truly owning our body, is what makes us free, our bodies are our primary weapons in the fight to destroy the patriarchy, which is why I have only one last thing left to say: FUCK THE PATRIARCHY

This is my first Akaeke Emezi book and probably won’t be my last. If you have been here with me for a while, you know I am not the biggest romance reader. 

However, Akaeke Emezi managed to give me what I have been looking for for a long time: a realist romance book.

Do not get me wrong, the premises of the book and the plot are not realistic AT ALL: it is not every day that you meet a rich guy who immediately falls for you and not only proposes a free luxurious vacation but also the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to expose your artwork and advance your career. So, before you all come at me, let’s agree the plot is not realistic. However, while the plot is extra (and I am here for it by the way), I did find realistic aspects that I was looking for in other elements of the book like the characters, especially the main character and her messy grief and approach to relationships.

Is the main character perfect? No, far from it. Does her best friend enable her? Yes. Was I still rooting for her? Absolutely. I think a lot of people, including me, found ourselves in situations where we had misplaced feelings for someone we should not, and attempted to control them, to redirect them, and ended up hurting people in the process of trying to do so. I found that relatable, which made up for the absurdity of the plot. 

I would describe this as an enjoyable hot-girl summer read for sure, but nothing more. However, I am curious to read other of their work, as they published several books and explored very different genres (I am thinking about PET in particular, which has been everywhere on bookstagram and booktok)

After a terrorist attack in a train, Jivan - a Muslim girl from the slums - unexpectedly finds herself accused of the attack. Rapidly brought to prison, she will do everything in her power to prove her innocence. Meanwhile, PT Sir - a gym teacher - is determined to join a right-wing political party and finds his ascending is linked to Jivan’s case. The same happen to Lovely, an exuberant outcasted actor who has the alibi to set Jivan free but it would cost her her success.

The characters made me held my breath throughout the pages, except for PT Sir who I absolutely hated (which I believe was the author intent). Capable to move, indignate, enrage and amuse, Megha Majumdar gifted us with a debut novel close to perfection that bring us into the streets of Indian slums while also exposing political hypocrisy and society injustice.

What is even more remarkable, is that « A burnin » is Megha Majumdar’s debut novel, setting the bar quite high for her next works which I am impatient to read.

The River Between is a must-read to add to your Classics TBR. Written by Kenyan author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, it follows a conflict between two neighboring villages in Kenya following the arrival of « the white man ». However, this conflict is expedient to expose other kinds of conflict that afflicted not only Kenya but other African communities before, during, and after colonization, without for that matter making colonization the focal point of the story. 

The whole plot is based on conflicts that seem to have a unique answer between two choices while challenging this Western dual optic of the world. I felt this was especially true for one particular character, who while believing in the new religion brought by the white man, also still highly values her village traditions that she desperately seeks to participate in against her father's will. Yet, this is far from being the only angle of analysis of a book that not only provides the reader with an enthralling story but with many reflection points about the past and modern societies, especially those that were affected by colonization.

The River Between is a classic that lives through space and time, and it needs to be on your reading list.