A Place for Us: A Novel
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD “5 UNDER 35” NOMINEE • NEW YORK’S “ONE BOOK, ONE NEW YORK” PICK
Named One of the Best Books of the Year: Washington Post • NPR • People • Refinery29 • Parade • BuzzFeed
“Mirza writes with a mercy that encompasses all things.”—Ron Charles, Washington Post
Hailed as “a book for our times” (Christiane Amanpour), A Place for Us is a deeply moving and resonant story of love, identity, and belonging.
As an Indian wedding gathers a family back together, parents Rafiq and Layla must reckon with the choices their children have made. There is Hadia: their headstrong, eldest daughter, whose marriage is a match of love and not tradition. Huda, the middle child, determined to follow in her sister’s footsteps. And lastly, their estranged son, Amar, who returns to the family fold for the first time in three years to take his place as brother of the bride. What secrets and betrayals have caused this close-knit family to fracture? Can Amar find his way back to the people who know and love him best?
A Place for Us takes us back to the beginning of this family’s life: from the bonds that bring them together, to the differences that pull them apart. All the joy and struggle of family life is here, from Rafiq and Layla’s own arrival in America from India, to the years in which their children—each in their own way—tread between two cultures, seeking to find their place in the world, as well as a path home.
A Place for Us is a book for our times: an astonishingly tender-hearted novel of identity and belonging, and a resonant portrait of what it means to be an American family today. It announces Fatima Farheen Mirza as a major new literary talent.
From the Publisher
A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza
Publisher : SJP for Hogarth
Publication date : March 5, 2019
Edition : Reprint
Language : English
Print length : 400 pages
ISBN-10 : 152476356X
ISBN-13 : 978-1524763565
Item Weight : 12.8 ounces
Dimensions : 5.15 x 1.11 x 7.99 inches
Best Sellers Rank: #28,968 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #68 in Cultural Heritage Fiction #1,036 in American Literature (Books) #1,222 in Literary Fiction (Books)
Customer Reviews: 4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars (8,680) var dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction; P.when(‘A’, ‘ready’).execute(function(A) { if (dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction !== true) { dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction = true; A.declarative( ‘acrLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault”: true }, function (event) { if (window.ue) { ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } } ); } }); P.when(‘A’, ‘cf’).execute(function(A) { A.declarative(‘acrStarsLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault” : true }, function(event){ if(window.ue) { ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } }); });
Original price was: $18.00.$8.99Current price is: $8.99.
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD “5 UNDER 35” NOMINEE • NEW YORK’S “ONE BOOK, ONE NEW YORK” PICK
Named One of the Best Books of the Year: Washington Post • NPR • People • Refinery29 • Parade • BuzzFeed
“Mirza writes with a mercy that encompasses all things.”—Ron Charles, Washington Post
Hailed as “a book for our times” (Christiane Amanpour), A Place for Us is a deeply moving and resonant story of love, identity, and belonging.
As an Indian wedding gathers a family back together, parents Rafiq and Layla must reckon with the choices their children have made. There is Hadia: their headstrong, eldest daughter, whose marriage is a match of love and not tradition. Huda, the middle child, determined to follow in her sister’s footsteps. And lastly, their estranged son, Amar, who returns to the family fold for the first time in three years to take his place as brother of the bride. What secrets and betrayals have caused this close-knit family to fracture? Can Amar find his way back to the people who know and love him best?
A Place for Us takes us back to the beginning of this family’s life: from the bonds that bring them together, to the differences that pull them apart. All the joy and struggle of family life is here, from Rafiq and Layla’s own arrival in America from India, to the years in which their children—each in their own way—tread between two cultures, seeking to find their place in the world, as well as a path home.
A Place for Us is a book for our times: an astonishingly tender-hearted novel of identity and belonging, and a resonant portrait of what it means to be an American family today. It announces Fatima Farheen Mirza as a major new literary talent.
From the Publisher
A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza
Publisher : SJP for Hogarth
Publication date : March 5, 2019
Edition : Reprint
Language : English
Print length : 400 pages
ISBN-10 : 152476356X
ISBN-13 : 978-1524763565
Item Weight : 12.8 ounces
Dimensions : 5.15 x 1.11 x 7.99 inches
Best Sellers Rank: #28,968 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #68 in Cultural Heritage Fiction #1,036 in American Literature (Books) #1,222 in Literary Fiction (Books)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars (8,680) var dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction; P.when(‘A’, ‘ready’).execute(function(A) { if (dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction !== true) { dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction = true; A.declarative( ‘acrLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault”: true }, function (event) { if (window.ue) { ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } } ); } }); P.when(‘A’, ‘cf’).execute(function(A) { A.declarative(‘acrStarsLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault” : true }, function(event){ if(window.ue) { ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } }); });
8 reviews for A Place for Us: A Novel
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kmurph31 –
A Masterpiece that Doesn’t Speak it Sings! A Favorite Author’s Debut!
A PLACE FOR USBY: FATIMA FARHEEN MIRZAI don’t know how attending the prestigious Iowa Writers’ Workshop always guarantees its graduates to succeed in writing masterpieces. The most unforgettable literary fiction that can evoke myriads of emotion comes from writers’ who have attended there. This impressive debut novel is no exception. This is a masterfully written new book about a first generation American-Indian family whose religion happens to be Muslim, which explores the love and complexities of every family dynamic that exists in all of humanity.The special bonds that exist between mothers’ and sons’ are brought to life with rich, vivid detail. The strong bonds that exist between siblings and how birth order effects greater expectations on each individual. Fathers and sons who find themselves in power struggles are expertly displayed. Each character in this novel is inherently good and pure at heart.The powerful and lasting effects of first love are flawlessly depicted. This is also a story of how well intentioned decisions made for what seems at the time, to be the best choices that we make for our children can sometimes backfire, and cause damage that cannot be undone. This novel also explores the vast differences of each individual child, who they inevitably become, and how they react while brought up in the same household with identical values. Each Adult Child takes a different path, and each one will conform, or not conform to their parents’ expectations placed on them.The heartbreaking estrangement of a child has lifelong consequences. This is a very impressive debut novel, that will remain with me for a long time. The writing is beautiful, and the character development is superb. I wish more novels were written with such a keen eye to detail. I highly recommend this realistic novel to everyone. It shows us how much we share in common as humans no matter what cultural or religious faith we belong too.
Charles Heckel –
Long on Relationshipping, Short on Character
This is indeed a beautiful, haunting, elegaic book, and the way Mirza writes about simple things gives it a certain conviction: we can all identify with the way people blossom and sometimes chafe under the strictures of custom and religion, and the simple quality of everyday life she focuses on is very persuasive. The flaw in the ointment is that the multiple characters from whose viewpoint she writes are all essentially the same character. Everyone is thoughtful, pensive, reflective, and spends considerable time catching up on his or her regretting. Amar, the brother, is the one conflicted wayward character who is charming but a perennial disappointment to his family, and he seems simply to have been born that way; but his inner monologue is yet again thoughtful, pensive, reflective, and rueful, as is that of his outwardly stern father.In the creation of tone poems Mirza is very, very good, and as a first novel this work is amazing. If she wants to mature as a writer, she will have to read her Dickens.
Faith –
10 Stars. Exceptional. Unforgettable. Breathtaking.
A Place For Us is one of the most beautifully written, well-woven, intricately detailed stories I have read in a very long time. The characters are richly multi-faceted, their experiences, hopes and desires are mesmerizing, and I found myself rooting for every one of them. The author, Fatima Farheen Mirza, has the exceptional ability to create a depth-filled, full-circle rendition of each experience, each thought. Even just a few sentences will convey a range of emotions and reflections that will tell an entire story in a few paragraphs; and indeed, this book tells many different stories and neatly ties each one to form a fluid arc from beginning to end. I was stunned to learn that Ms. Mirza is now only thirty years old. I am awe-struck that she has written this masterpiece as a young woman in her twenties, giving each character, whether they be mothers or fathers or siblings or friends, such precise and genuine angst and yearning.This story revolves around a family living in California, who are Shia Muslims from Hyderabad, India, living a compelling and complex array of experiences as they discover who they are as individuals and their place within their family, their community, and their destiny.I recommend this beautiful and intricate story to everyone, but especially so if your roots lie in the Subcontinent. The familiarity of language, religion, and the immigrant experience is priceless, but even more than that, this story will compel you to reflect on your own experiences and maybe even heighten the understanding of our and our parents’ lives.
Prashant Bhat –
Absolutely loved this book! Mirza evocatively writes about delicate human relationships- reminded me of Rohinton Mistry’s FAMILY MATTERS. Touches your heart. But, as is in life, the middle child is neglected (no points for guessing the order of my birth)
Susanne Hendricks –
A heart-felt story which explores the complexity of family and their values, and how this and the world around us influences who we become and how we navigate and make choices in our own life. I will re-read it again as I’m sure there is even more to discover the second time round. Well done Fatima on an excellent book!
Ashley Srokosz –
I don’t know if I’ve ever read a book about an ordinary family doing ordinary family things, and been so moved. This book speaks to the intricacies of the interactions between family members, paired with the intricacies of the thoughts and feelings of ourselves.You think the father is an unfeeling, angry man, but he’s not. I can see myself in him.You think the high achieving oldest daughter is fulfilled by all her accomplishments, but she’s not. I can see myself in her.You think the mother is just spoiling her youngest son, it she’s not. She recognizes that he is so much more sensitive and affected by life than her two older children. I can see myself in her.I can see parts of myself in each character, and fully understand how they feel. This is due to Fatima’s masterful character development, and her ability to share the story of their feelings: where they came from and how they’ve changed.This book is so deep and lovely, and at times made me cry from its ordinary interactions made extraordinary because of the sharing of the inner thoughts and dialogues of each character at different times in the book.Not to mention the storytelling about a Muslim family and their faith, something I know hardly anything about. How that seems an almost forgotten point about this book speaks to the highest level of storytelling about the universal human experience.
Laura vent –
Libro su una saga familiare che mi ha decisamente coinvolta, smosso le mie emozioni fino a farmi piangere, alla fine, quando ho dovuto ‘lasciare’ la famiglia. Ancora una volta ho imparato che bisogna conoscere per giudicare. Che ognuno ha la sua storia. Grande scrittrice che, sebbene molto giovane, ha descritto sentimenti in un modo così chiaro, io li ho percepiti esattamente, intensamente, come se chi li avesse scritti avesse una grandissima esperienza di vita. Lo consiglio assolutamente.
J-No –
Beautiful book. I had to put down the book many times and reflect on my own life. So many things were like looking in a mirror. The delicacy with which the characters are described, their thoughts so vividly unique yet relatable to all. I’m left with a deep sense of relief knowing that this book exists. Knowing that the things I have read are a shared experience for desi families. Knowing that we’re not alone in feeling the way we do.