A Woman Is No Man – Book Review

Title: A Woman Is No Man

Author: Etaf Rum

Number of Pages: 336 pages

Publisher: Harper

Publication Date: March 5, 2019

Purchase: Thriftbooks//Amazon//Book Depository

My Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Synopsis from Goodreads:

In Brooklyn, eighteen-year-old Deya is starting to meet with suitors. Though she doesn’t want to get married, her grandparents give her no choice. History is repeating itself: Deya’s mother, Isra, also had no choice when she left Palestine as a teenager to marry Adam. Though Deya was raised to believe her parents died in a car accident, a secret note from a mysterious, yet familiar-looking woman makes Deya question everything she was told about her past. As the narrative alternates between the lives of Deya and Isra, she begins to understand the dark, complex secrets behind her community.

My Thoughts:

My heart, my emotions, this book destroyed me. I cried so many times throughout this story. It is heartbreaking but extremely powerful. This story is about finding a voice when they feel like they are being oppressed by their culture.

This is told by two characters, Isra and Deya. Deya is Isra’s daughter who was born in America but is struggling to uphold her culture and traditions while still making her own decisions and trying to do what she wants. Isra immigrated from Palestine when she is married to Adam. Isra’s timeline is focusing on her dealing with trying to stick to what she is taught while also dealing with depression and possibly post-partum depression. I think it is very interesting what other cultures think about mental health and how they deal with it. This family seems to pretend it doesn’t exist until something happens and than it is believed that person was possessed.

Deya’s timeline is focusing on finding her voice and trying to leave the gender roles of her culture behind. She wants to go to college and wait to be married but it doesn’t feel possible. She is trying to put together pieces of a puzzle of her mother’s life and what led to the events that happened when she was younger.

This is a novel that everyone needs to read for themselves and discover their feelings and emotions on this topic.

I highly recommend this! Be prepared for the roller coaster of emotions that shall follow you.

Have you read this? If so, what were your thoughts?

Lets talk about it in the comments below!