Home fire, by Kamila Shamsie

 

I have mixed feelings about this novel by Pakistani-British author Kamila Shamsie. While shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, I feel that it has some flaws that prevent it from being a great novel. The novel tells the story of a Pakistani immigrant family in London whose father abandoned them and was later killed during the war on terror. Isma is the oldest and she raised her younger twin siblings, Aneeka and Parvaiz, after their mother's early death. The novel is organized into five sections following the three siblings as well as Eamonn, who falls in love with Aneeka, and Eamonn's father, Karamat, who is a politician. I had a hard time getting into the book as the first section, which follows Isma, is the least compelling. The book picks up a bit when Eamonn begins a relationship with Aneeka and we read about Parvaiz' seduction and recruitment into a jihadi group fighting in Syria. The final section follows Karamat who advocates for complete assimilation of migrants into British society. When Parvaiz is killed while trying to escape the terrorist group that he joined, Karamat prevents his body from being repatriated resulting in both Aneeka and Eamonn going to Pakistan to try to change his mind. The ending is quite abrupt and tragic. As this is a modern adaptation of the Greek tragedy Antigone, perhaps it had to end tragically, but it felt very contrived to me. I wonder if the author could have made her points about post 9-11 anti-Muslim sentiment and assimilation better by allowing Parvaiz to return home and face the consequences. Nevertheless, once I got started, this book was a compelling narrative and page turner, even as I quibbled with the completely illogical actions of many of the characters.