Review by Lucille27 -- Salt and Pepper by Maria Akhanji
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Lucille27
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Review by Lucille27 -- Salt and Pepper by Maria Akhanji
[Following is a volunteer review of "Salt and Pepper" by Maria Akhanji.]
Salt and Pepper: Unearthing Taboos, by Maria Akhanji, is a coming-of-age novel that follows Ranya’s life. She is a six-year-old Bangladeshi girl with a dysfunctional family consisting on her sister (Megha Di), her brother (Bhaiyya), and her mother and father (Amma and Abba). The story follows her until she turns twenty and starts pursuing an education in London. Throughout these years she will have to face and endure different challenges within a society and family with misogynistic and abusive behaviours deeply rooted.
What I liked the most from this book is the raw portrayal of life throughout childhood to youth, and the different perspectives shown in the book. Ranya is the main narrator of the story, but she is not the only voice we can listen to. There are some other important narrators, such as Megha Di and her sister-in-law. These two perspectives allow to see the same event from different angles, to listen to different perspectives, and to understand better the reasons behind them. It is also very interesting that these points of view are from female characters, giving them voices and agency. This is also something I really enjoyed from the book. Even if they are experiencing similar situations, they see them with different eyes, and not all of them react in the same way or consider them as bad as the others.
Something I also liked is the metaphor that gives the book its title. Ranya mentions that she feels just like salt and pepper because those ingredients are needed for food, yet they are only compliments, never the main dish. In her family she is always left out because she is the youngest one of them. She never seems to fully grasp what is going on around her, nor does anyone seem to try to explain her. While she grows up, she must face this, together with the constant abuse that she gets from her mother, and his father’s distant behaviour. Her siblings seem to be the only ones who care about her, yet they are also trying to forge their own paths and escape the abuse. Although, at some points, I considered that the repetition of the salt and pepper metaphor is a bit too much.
I also liked the portrayal of the Bangladeshi culture as something complex. I think Akhanji does a marvellous job in showing that this is a whole different culture, that some of its values are different or perceived in other ways. This is very important because I think it helps us to be more understanding and caring about different realities. It is also a very enlightening description from the inside and not as an outsider perspective. This also helps to change some taboos or misconceptions we might have. I think the only thing I disliked about this book is the fact that, at some points, it can have a slow rhythm, what seems to be a lack of action or conflict, and an abrupt ending. However, I believe this is a portrayal of the growing-up process, so I think it is also nice that it seems to go nowhere, because that is exactly how life works.
The book was professionally edited, yet it has some minor typos, but nothing excessive or to disturb the reading. It presents little profanity: mainly concerned with swear words in very specific contexts, and it also discusses some religious beliefs, mostly related to Muslim people. It also contains some recurrent references to molestation and sexual abuse, but not in a very explicit fashion, yet it might not be suitable for sensitive or younger audiences. I rate the book 4 out of 4 stars because it captivated me from the beginning, because it showed me a whole different culture to which I am not very familiar, and because it also touched a lot of inner emotions. Despite the cultural differences, there are some common experiences in the growing-up process as a woman in a male-dominated society and talking about them also helps to overcome them and understand them better. This book might be perfect for female and teenage readers, but also for an older and male audience. I think it is suitable also for people wanting to learn more about other cultures that are not American or European and want to be more understanding of them.
******
Salt and Pepper
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Salt and Pepper: Unearthing Taboos, by Maria Akhanji, is a coming-of-age novel that follows Ranya’s life. She is a six-year-old Bangladeshi girl with a dysfunctional family consisting on her sister (Megha Di), her brother (Bhaiyya), and her mother and father (Amma and Abba). The story follows her until she turns twenty and starts pursuing an education in London. Throughout these years she will have to face and endure different challenges within a society and family with misogynistic and abusive behaviours deeply rooted.
What I liked the most from this book is the raw portrayal of life throughout childhood to youth, and the different perspectives shown in the book. Ranya is the main narrator of the story, but she is not the only voice we can listen to. There are some other important narrators, such as Megha Di and her sister-in-law. These two perspectives allow to see the same event from different angles, to listen to different perspectives, and to understand better the reasons behind them. It is also very interesting that these points of view are from female characters, giving them voices and agency. This is also something I really enjoyed from the book. Even if they are experiencing similar situations, they see them with different eyes, and not all of them react in the same way or consider them as bad as the others.
Something I also liked is the metaphor that gives the book its title. Ranya mentions that she feels just like salt and pepper because those ingredients are needed for food, yet they are only compliments, never the main dish. In her family she is always left out because she is the youngest one of them. She never seems to fully grasp what is going on around her, nor does anyone seem to try to explain her. While she grows up, she must face this, together with the constant abuse that she gets from her mother, and his father’s distant behaviour. Her siblings seem to be the only ones who care about her, yet they are also trying to forge their own paths and escape the abuse. Although, at some points, I considered that the repetition of the salt and pepper metaphor is a bit too much.
I also liked the portrayal of the Bangladeshi culture as something complex. I think Akhanji does a marvellous job in showing that this is a whole different culture, that some of its values are different or perceived in other ways. This is very important because I think it helps us to be more understanding and caring about different realities. It is also a very enlightening description from the inside and not as an outsider perspective. This also helps to change some taboos or misconceptions we might have. I think the only thing I disliked about this book is the fact that, at some points, it can have a slow rhythm, what seems to be a lack of action or conflict, and an abrupt ending. However, I believe this is a portrayal of the growing-up process, so I think it is also nice that it seems to go nowhere, because that is exactly how life works.
The book was professionally edited, yet it has some minor typos, but nothing excessive or to disturb the reading. It presents little profanity: mainly concerned with swear words in very specific contexts, and it also discusses some religious beliefs, mostly related to Muslim people. It also contains some recurrent references to molestation and sexual abuse, but not in a very explicit fashion, yet it might not be suitable for sensitive or younger audiences. I rate the book 4 out of 4 stars because it captivated me from the beginning, because it showed me a whole different culture to which I am not very familiar, and because it also touched a lot of inner emotions. Despite the cultural differences, there are some common experiences in the growing-up process as a woman in a male-dominated society and talking about them also helps to overcome them and understand them better. This book might be perfect for female and teenage readers, but also for an older and male audience. I think it is suitable also for people wanting to learn more about other cultures that are not American or European and want to be more understanding of them.
******
Salt and Pepper
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Zonas de quema by Jorge P. Newbery
