The One who Did Not Ask

The One who Did Not Ask: (Dastak Naa Do) | Alt??f F?t?imah, Rukhsana Ahmad

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I loved this family drama, focusing on the fortunes and missions of an affluent Indian Muslim family in the years before and after Partition, mainly through the lens of the unconventional girl/young woman, Gaythi, though we get insights into the POVs of other characters, too. Fatima has compassion and empathy for her characters, even when they act badly, and I cared for and worried about them.
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Bookwomble It's too much to summarise, but it was emotional, poignant, heartbreaking at times, with a narratively clear, but emotionally complicated, ending. Unreservedly 5⭐ 6d

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Bookwomble

The One who Did Not Ask: (Dastak Naa Do) | Alt??f F?t?imah, Rukhsana Ahmad

“The only thing that proves to be right is Time, which slowly and steadily brings every mistake and every truth to light.”

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Bookwomble

The One who Did Not Ask: (Dastak Naa Do) | Alt??f F?t?imah, Rukhsana Ahmad

"That afternoon, the foggiest that January, felt more like an evening."
#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

Continues:
"Earlier Mali had hoed the flower-beds, expecting a shower. Pink, yellow, white and azure sweetpeas, in their prime, leaned against the golden bamboo sticks. A gentle fragrance hung in the cold mist. Orange & blue flowers brooded glumly in their heart-shaped beds as smoke curled out of the chimneys against a deep, penetrating silence."

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Bookwomble

The One who Did Not Ask: (Dastak Naa Do) | Alt??f F?t?imah, Rukhsana Ahmad

"As soon as the car crawled out of the gates she swung round to look back. In the dead centre of the beautiful garden of her house she saw flames leap up to consume her innocence and her girlhood. She could see countless spectres of relationships, memories and dreams as they crowded into heaps offering themselves to those flames in silent funeral pyres...She calmly watched the beautiful and stupid world of her maidenhood burning in those flames ⬇️

Bookwomble ... and then looked away."

[Newlywed Saulat leaving her father's house to join her husband.]

I'm enjoying this family saga, but there are SO many characters! They're identified mainly by kinship titles, which vary for the same person depending on the specific relationship, and also by given names, married names, and nicknames, so it's quite confusing for me, given that I struggle to navigate the complexities of my own extended family! 1mo

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Bookwomble

The One who Did Not Ask: (Dastak Naa Do) | Alt??f F?t?imah, Rukhsana Ahmad

I got this book a couple of years ago for a "Read the World" challenge, which was good as far as it went, but it didn't get as far as #Pakistan ! ??
A Muslim family saga told from a female perspective against the tumultuous backdrop of Partition.

#TuesdayTunes @tiedyedude
?️Gorillaz ?
?Demon Days ?
?Iced Lemon Drizzle ?
?Earl Grey Créme ?
?‍⬛ Skye ?

dabbe 🖤🐾🖤 Plus, I want what you're about to eat. 🤣 1mo

Bookwomble @dabbe It was tasty 😋 I do prefer citrus to chocolate. 1mo

dabbe @Bookwomble It has a much lighter flavor, doesn't it? 😋 1mo

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Bookwomble @dabbe It is, and I like the sourness of it. 1mo

TieDyeDude Living the life! That looks excellent. Thanks for sharing 1mo

Bookwomble @TieDyeDude It's the life of an old lady from the 1920s, but, yes, I'm living it! 👵🏻🍰🫖☕😄 1mo

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