Title: What was never said
Author: Emma Craigie
Genre: Contemporary
Series: Stand alone
Pages: 208
Publisher: Short books
Rating: 4.5 stars
5-year-old
Zahra has lived in England most of her life, but she is haunted by memories of
her early childhood in Africa: the warm sun, the loud gunfire, and happy days
playing with her older sister before "the visitors" came. It is hard
for Zahra to make sense of everything that happened, and the terrible events
are impossible to talk about, but when three familiar women arrive unexpectedly
for tea, Zahra realises that the dangers of the past could still destroy her.
I have to admit that when I started this
book I was almost in total ignorance of FGM. I’d vaguely heard of it somewhere,
but had no real clue what it was, why it was done or being totally honest, what
the acronym stood for. (For those of you reading this, who are in the same boat
as I was and are sitting completely oblivious and totally confused, it stands
for Female Genital Mutilation -an illegal practice in the UK and many other
parts of the world.) Before I go into my review, I’d just like to say a little
bit about FGM for any readers who are still unaware, like I was and also
because I think it is something that isn’t discussed enough due to its
sensitive and private nature, and yet it is a practice that I believe should be
recognised by more people. FGM is a tradition carried out in many cultures and
religions, usually it is done in the belief that it will make it harder for
women to experience sexual pleasure and/or to protect a girls’ virtue. It is
done without anesthetic of any kind and as a result is scarring to its victims
both physically and mentally, hence its prohibition in this country.
For someone to write about such a
delicate subject, which I certainly have not seen before in literature, I
believe is bold, daring, shocking and frankly a little inspiring. Emma Craigie
approaches the subject well and daringly. I was truly impressed by how she met
the subject head on and although she didn’t go into excruciating detail, she
gave just the right amount of detail to explain FGM and its consequences but
not too much so that the more squeamish among us were writhing in our seats.
I was also amazed at how she managed to
shove herself into someone else’s very different sized shoes. Such detail of
feeling typical of a fifteen-year-old girl was given that it was easy to assume
the book was of a biographical nature. I was astounded at the descriptions of
Zahra’s native land (Somalia) and also the culture difference and her thoughts
and feelings.
I completely loved the layout of the
book and how it jumped from the present to Zahra’s memories of Somalia and her
growing up. I also loved the varying chapter sizes as it made reading easier
and also kept the fast pace going.
It was also an exciting read. It
gripping throughout and I honestly had it wrestled off me by my parents
demanding I go to bed at some points as I quite literally couldn’t put it down!
I was never bored or felt the heaviness of dread set in when I thought of
having to pick it back up. It was a true delight.
The writing style wasn’t too complex
even though the book was of a more adult nature and I think this helped to make
the book easier to read, considering it was about such a heavy topic.
I thought the characters were all well
described: there was enough there for you to picture them but still enough
detail left out to get your imagination working. I also liked how they all fit
really well into their backgrounds and all had something to add to the plot.
The plot was really good and well
thought out. It had quite a few significant twists and turns which kept me on
my toes, which I enjoyed as it raised the tensions and really helped to convey
Zahra’s mind-set.
Possibly my favorite aspect of the book
was that it is from Zarah’s perspective and is written to her sister. I think
this makes the story even more hard hitting and it has that touch of raw
honesty one uses with ones we love, and this really touched me in places.
…I’ve now been sat at my computer screen
picking my brains for something to criticize the book and after struggling for
a while, I’ve managed to deduce that if I could change the book in anyway, I’d
maybe prolong it a little. This sounds odd I know and to many of you you’ll be
thinking…is it not a good thing you want to read more? And it is, however, I
felt the book almost had a sense of being rushed slightly at the end. I realize
that many events have to happen at once sometimes in order to build the story
up to climax but I thought maybe the ending seemed to have a little too much happening
all at once. I suppose in some ways this reflects Zahra’s life and her inner
stress and how everything seems to go wrong all together but I still felt
rushed into an ending.
Overall, I would highly recommend this
book to any teenage or adult girl or boy, as I think it would be interesting to
see how boys react to a book relating to more female issues. This book is a
very rare thing. Not only does it educate us but also it provides us with a
story that highlights issues that are forgotten in many of our lives, yet poignant
in others. I think of it as a triumph in modern writing of this nature.
Happy Reading,
Hebe x
