Zuleikha arrives in Texas via arranged marriage from Pakistan, and soon realizes how different life in America is from the portrayals in the confiscated contraband books and movies her father trafficked in to pay for her education and dowry. Having trained as a pianist without ever owning a real piano, she finally has one-a wedding present from her husband. As Zuleikha learns to navigate her new role as suburban middle-class housewife, she begins to feel diminished by her seemingly kind husband's regular dismissal. She offers piano lessons to the neighbourhood kids, and in doing so begins to find her identity and independence.
Everything changes when Patrick-the father of her young son's friend-signs up for lessons himself. Zuleikha and Patrick grow closer, and Zuleikha finds herself in love for the first time. Zuleikha is caught between being a good Muslim wife and obedient daughter and following her heart.
Despite how careful she is, the affair is eventually discovered, and leads to horrific violence with gruesome and fatal consequences. The ensuing circumstances catapult Zuleikha into the glare of the public eye in a foreign land, where she finds herself at the epicentre of a political firestorm with both sides using her situation to advance their own agendas.
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Following a traditional wedding in her hometown of Lahore, Pakistan, Zuleikha arrives in Irving, Texas with her American husband Iksander Khan, just as spring ends and the sun starts barbequing the land all day in what she'll come to decide is a typical Texas style, by overdoing it, charring it crisp.
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(@atmospherepress, 10 November 2020, 166 pages, ebook, copy from the publisher via # NetGalley and voluntarily reviewed)
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I'd never heard of the author before. I decided to read the book as it's well outside my comfort zone. I mostly enjoyed it. It's a well written novel that hooked me from the start and held my attention until the end. Well, almost. The book is let down a little by the ending which though hopeful, offers no real resolution. This let the book down a little. I felt the book was very short which could account for the ending which felt rushed. I struggled to fully identify with Zu. She experiences horrific trauma but seems to take it all in her stride which I felt wasn't realistic. I wanted her to have more depth. I liked the conflict cause by Zu's situation between the Muslim and American communities. This is played out well. The Muslim community see what happens as Zu's fault as she had an affair and deserved what happened. The American community are on her side and see her husband as a monster. However, Zu does not express much emotion which left me cold.
