Women, Dreaming by Salma

 "Women Dreaming" was a book which I picked because of its gorgeous cover. The premise looked promising and I had a lot of expectations from this book.

The book kicked off with a great start. The first 100 pages were flawless as the author described the plight of Muslim women in a small village which reeked of patriarchy and stereotypes. The struggles of three generations of women was written with heartbreaking compassion. Mehar's husband Hasan did not believe women were entitled to the same rights as men and even outlined the do's and don'ts for his the women in his family. When Mehar divorces him after she learns of his second marriage, it becomes the talk of the town with Hasan gradually losing his reputation among the villagers. The ongoing tussle between Mehar and Hasan, destroys the childhood of their children who ends up turning bitter and hated coming back home from hostel.

Even with a promising storyline the story fell flat. It kept on dragging and the inner turmoils of the women became repetitive. Nearly 60% of the book was about Mehar's mother lamenting the fate of her daughter to anyone who would care to listen. The women did nothing but cry. I could relate with the children who were scared to visit their mother because their grandmother's nagging got too much. Only Hasan's sister Parveen stood out in the book when she decided to join a self-help group to prevent child marriage.

I was looking forward to read this book and I am so disappointed that this one did not work out for me. Looks like I should stop judging a book by its cover alone.