Kamila Shamsie’s 2017 novel Home Fire won the 2018 Women’s Fiction Prize, was longlisted for the Man Book Prize and short-listed for the SSC Prize for South Asian literature. These well-deserved accolades acknowledge Shamshie’s poetic prose and skilled storytelling. ‘Home Fire’ is intense and intimate as the story explores identity, secrets, immigration, ambition, love, and family loyalty. Shamsie’s writing is evocative, the characters complex and the suspense slowly builds toward a stunning ending.

The story is about two British Pakistani families navigating their Muslim identity in a post-9/11 world. Each of the characters is bound to their family by love and loyalty. And yet, each holds a different perspective about expressing that identity in a world that discriminates and demonizes Muslims. Sophocles’ play ‘Antigone’ serves as the basis for this book, and echoes of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ permeate the plot.

The novel begins in 2005 and takes place in England, America, Syria, Istanbul and Pakistan. Three siblings, Isma, Parvaiz and Aneeka, were raised by their mother in Wembley, England. Their father, a famous jihadist, was captured and died in Afghanistan, and his family has been under constant surveillance by the British. When the siblings’ mother and grandmother died within a year, the oldest daughter Isma raised her younger brother Parvaiz and sister Aneeka. When Parvaiz is in his teens, he struggles to find his identity. ISIS members recruit him to become a jihadist like his father and he leaves England for the Middle East. Soon Parvaiz regrets his decision.

His sister Aneeka works to free Parvaiz from ISIS’s grip. When Aneeka meets Eamonn, the influential British Home Secretary’s sophisticated son, she initiates a relationship with him. Eamonn and Aneeka fall in love, or so one might think. Maybe Eamonn’s father could help save Parvaiz. But in his political speeches, Eamonn’s father implores his fellow Muslim citizens to assimilate into British culture. He says, “I hate the Muslims who make people hate Muslims.”

The plot thickens: the assimilationist Home Secretary’s son and the sister of a jihadist are in a relationship. The fates of both families are now intertwined. Each of the three siblings, Eamonn and Eamonn’s father, each take turns narrating the story. This structure provides constantly shifting points of view. Readers must determine who and what to believe about each character’s choices. All people have multiple motivations.

Home Fire is an intellectual and emotional experience. In these times of increasing nationalism and simple generalizations about ethnic or religious groups, Kamila Shamsie’s characterizations cause readers to grasp how political passions tyrannize individual lives. Highly recommend. 4.5/5

Andre Dubus III’s recent novel ‘Such Kindness’ personifies the phrase, “You never know how another person feels unless you walk a mile in his/her shoes.’ Without being sentimental or didactic, the novel depicts a good man trying his best to survive. Dubus’ literary talents allow readers to inhabit another person’s interior life and witness the widening of his perspective and the healing of his heart.

This hero’s journey is about transformation, not from rags to riches but from anger to kindness.

Tom Lowe, Jr. was living the American Dream on the north shore of Massachusetts. He married his college sweetheart and they had a son named Drew. As a skilled carpenter, Tom started his own construction company. Successful and content, he took out a sub-prime loan to build a family home. While hammering the roof, Tom fell and broke his back. Unable to return to work and in constant pain, he became addicted to opioids. His subprime mortgage payment rose. Soon he lost his house, his wife and his son. When the story begins, he lives alone in Section 8 subsidized housing. He can’t afford a cell phone or car on his meager income. His mobility is limited and his pain persists. The plot revolves around Tom’s efforts to see his son on his 20th birthday.

Tom’s despair, depression, and bitterness overpower him every day. He blames the banks, insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies for their deceit and dishonesty. Only one banker went to jail for the 2008 crash. Many perpetrators of the 2008 banking crisis continued with their lives, while Tom’s life and the lives of many others were shattered. The societal safety net protects the wealthy, not the working poor or destitute.

We encounter Tom’s neighbors in Section 8 Housing who sell plasma, visit food pantries, and commit petty crimes to survive. Dubus depicts how bad luck, bad decisions, lack of education and poor health can crack the foundation of a person’s life. People in town who once treated Tom with respect now ignore or shun him. He has learned to live on little. He says, “Can’t thrive when you are trying to survive.”

Halfway through the novel, I considered stopping. I wanted to look away from Tom’s travails. Yet, Tom begins to change when he has no option but to rely on the kindness of strangers. He decides the only aspect of his life he can control is his response to what life hurls at him. So, Tom Lowe starts to be a giver, not a taker, even toward his down-and-out neighbors, whom he thinks inferior. His perspective widens as he appreciates the humanity of those he encounters. Tom apologizes to those he has hurt; this psychological and spiritual epiphany feels authentic due to the skills of this impressive writer.

And yet, I couldn’t help wondering why poor people must cultivate a positive attitude. This country tells people that if you work hard, you can get ahead. It isn’t true. Shouldn’t the government apologize to people for a broken system that condemns its citizens to live lives of desperation? Nonetheless, Andre Dubus III’s novel ‘Such Kindness’ thoughtfully depicts one man’s healing transformation. 4/5