"The Dressmaker of Khair Khana" by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon

 The Dressmaker of Khair Khana

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon

Overall Review: 3.5 *

Grip Factor:       3.5

Writing Style:    3

Engaging Plot:   3

Characters:         4

Satisfying End:  3.5

Goodreads review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3019794464

Never die attitude for women in a war torn country

For the rest of the world war torn Afghanistan is a place which needs to be talked about and managed.  For the people living there since ages it is a shock and matter of life and death.  This book is all about how the fairly modern lives of women living in Kabul get rudely shaken and turned upside down to a closed, repressive lifestyle.  But still there are some who do not leave hope, do not bow down and find out options to make their mark in the world.  The never say die attitude of one girl in a family ensures not only survival but betterment of lives of this and other families who came in contact with them.  

The book is simple to read and flows easily from event to event.   It talks about the changes that were brought into the lives of people living in Afganistan when Taliban took over.  Going round only wearing the chador and only with a male member of their family was mandatory.  With no way to get themselves educated, the women not only stitch clothes to earn a living but end up setting up a tailoring school for the betterment of other women in the society.  

Simple narration but changed directions

The lives of the family and the women surrounding them is observed by the author and the book seems to start as a journalistic set of events.  However, the narrative changes in between where things are seen from the eyes of Kamila.  It could have been better if the author could have stuck to one style of narration.  

The lives turn for the better not only for one family but for a community

I admired Kamila from the Siddiqi sisters for her bravery and determination to continue working for the betterment of her family and women in her country.  All women who get associated with her and her group are brave women who refuse to bow down to Taliban and are willing to learn new skills to put food in front of their families.  The risks these women took during the toughest times shows a lot about the women of Afganistan.  

All Power to strong willed women.  

"The Snow Child" by Eowyn Ivey

 The Snow Child 

By Eowyn Ivey

Overall Review: 4 *

Grip Factor:       4.5

Writing Style:    4.5

Engaging Plot:   4

Characters:         4

Satisfying End:  3.5

Goodreads Review:  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13590366-the-snow-child

Lovely book full of magical movements.  

What happens when a couple longing for a child of their own start seeing glimpses of a little girl running in the forest.  What happens when a boy falls in love with a fairly running around in the snow.  Magic happens when people devoid of love just find someone in the woods to whom they can shower love.   Two people who moved to Atlanta hoping to make a living are able to make a life when they happen to chance upon an abandoned girl running around.  When they made a girl from snow, they never knew she would come back to them as a real child.  

A story to fall in love with

One could fall in love with the book only by reading about the portrayal of the woods, animals and life in Alaska by the author.  They story first focusses on two main characters who have moved to Alaska to make a living for themselves.  Slowly and gradually people come together and become a family.  This couple has lost all hope in their lives and are living a mundane living but, life takes a turn from them when they find a girl in the woods.   I really fell in love with Jack and Mabel, the relationship they have.  They have faced lot of disappointments  and challenges in life, but despite everything they still have faith and love for each other.

It takes a village to build a story

The supporting characters in the story actually carve out the story to what it becomes just like it is in all our lives.  The letters from Mabel's sister give her comfort and strength.  The neighbors in the book who become a family to Jack and Mabel and help them when they needed them the most.  They end up having a special relationship with the youngest son making up for their own lack of children in their life.  

Could have been better with different ending

The ending however could have been a lot better.  I am cutting down the ratings only because of the missing parts in the ending.  The ending is sudden and happens without any closure or clarity.  The book ends just like that without any closure to anyone neither to the mother, father, husband, child or to the reader.  

Some Excerpts

"He drifted into a kind of sleep that wasn’t much different than wakefulness, a mystifying, restless sleep where dreams fell and melted like snowflakes, where children ran soft-footed through the trees and scarves flapped between black raven beaks."

‘We are allowed to do that, are we not…? To invent our own endings and choose joy over sorrow?’