HOME FIRE
By “Kamila
Shamsie”
Blurb: After Isma, the elder
daughter of a dead jihadi, meets Eamonn, the disappointing son of a strongly
British politician, they soon get to know what insecurities they both have
about their fathers. From there starts a tale that leads Eamonn to meet Isma’s
sister, Aneeka, which quickly becomes a love-story, but one with grave
consequences as her twin brother, Parvaiz, a jihadi-to-be, gets involved with
them. Where would this relationship between a British family with a terrorist
name-tag and a political one who sides more with Britain than they do with
religion, end up? Home Fire is this telling of a timely and thrilling story
which bravely talks about the major conflicting themes of our times such as
religion, dual-nationality, terrorism, patriotism and love.
It comes as a headlining news when a novel, especially
one published in a British country, talks about such controversial themes. The
task of a novel is merely to offer a lovely tale with mesmerizing literature
for the readers to have a good time, not to get political by talking about the
global issues. For it is the politicians who decide and run the show of our
world, and they do not like to read novels, particularly not the ones that
talks about their actions and their impacts. But every once in a while, comes a
brave novel that has to raise a voice about the dire situations of our times,
while also doing justice to the art-form by telling it through profoundly
thrilling tale.
Shamsie has been very courageous and bluntly relevant
in her latest novel about the topics that she would be most familiar with being
a Pakistani-British. She has told here a story that has something to say about
every biases and misjudgments that the Muslims around the world has to face in
the name of terrorism and Islamophobia, mostly the ones living in Western
countries with dual-nationalities. There is no second guessing as to whether
this novel is political or not, because it plainly is, but what is more exciting
is that it is a really good one. The plot and its relevance to our disturbed and
fear-stricken times is both a thrilling and thought-provoking read. By the end
of the novel, you are sure to be left with some questions about your own opinions
regarding these global, yet very personal, issues.
While it is decidedly and boldly political, the story
of these two families are presented in nuanced ways which leaves some questions
for readers to answer themselves. On one side, we deal with Isma’s family, who
is directly affected by the extreme terrorism going on in the world, having a jihadi-dead
father. Their story shows the struggles they have to go through on the accounts
of their father’s single decision of going out to kill in the name of saving a Belief;
a Belief which is relative to individual perspectives. And when you are a Paki
family living in Britain, then you have yourselves a life full of normed
biasness and offensive remarks everywhere. On the other side, we have a family
grappling with the same issues, but as a politician. Here, as Karamat Lone, you
have be a patriot first, and everything else later – even being a father. And
as the son of this politician who doesn’t seem to follow his footsteps, you are
left to defend and explain your father’s every word and action, regardless of
whether you approve of them or not; even knowing that you would never be able
to win your father’s respect. As the story unfolds between these families, it
becomes harder to take sides because you are being told this one controversial
story from different aspects where every party has their own reasons to be right.
However, despite of its nuanced storytelling, there
are parts in this novel that are clear and to the point about what it is trying
to say. Shamsie’s simple prose, her wittiness and play of humor with a sharp
sting of bitter truth makes this novel consistently engaging and debatable.
Aneeka’s choices has a young Muslim girl around intimacy and religious bounds are
both fascinating to read and inviting for a spicy debate. I wish I had someone
to talk about some of her traditionally-influenced, modern choices around the strictly
religious codes. Then, there are also instances where you read and notice
deeply the biasness and insult, she has to go through being a dual-nationalist,
Muslim girl living in Britain because of every provocative news, every other
day.
While it shifts it focus from being a feel-good novel
to a political one, Home Fire definitely makes up for it by being a timely and
relevant novel about our troubled times. And what is not affected, regardless
of its nature, is the story of the novel: it is thrilling, engaging, thought-provoking
and nail biting. Not to mention, it has one of the wildest ending I can
remember in a long while. At the end, there is hardly any room left to be critical
about this novel, but still there were moments where the story seemed either unrealistic
in relation to it ever happening or have happened, or sometimes too real-like
to be called novel. Quite ironic, isn’t it?
An Excerpt:
“For girls, becoming women was inevitability; for
boys, becoming men was ambition.”
With its award of winning the Women Prize for fiction,
it becomes even easier for me to recommend it, whether it is to the readers
from Pakistan, or the ones from UK – or especially to the dual-nationalists.
My praise
for the novel:
Both a thrilling and contemporarily important novel;
Shamsie is timely and bold in ‘Home Fire’.
Ratings: 4/5****
A review by: Ejaz Hussain
February 29, 2020 (Leap Day)