“There is no such thing as friends, only family, and only family will never desert you.”–Fatima Farheen Mirza, A Place For Us
If you are part of a family, this book is for you. Fatima Farheen Mirza writes beautifully of the complexity found within families and how we often hurt the people we love the most. Mirza started writing this book as a freshman in college and published it when she was 27. I am blown away by the perspective she has despite her young age. This book is told from multiple points of view and goes back and forth between the past and the present. Some find this distracting, but worked well for me. The last section of the book is one of the most beautiful things I have ever read. I get teary eyed sometimes when reading, but rarely cry. I had tears streaming down my face while listening to the last portion of the book, which given the fact I was driving in the dark, during a rainstorm wasn’t great! I have both listened to and read the book and recommend either. The audiobook is very well done and is helpful for pronunciation. This book is in my top ten of favorite books.
Content advisory: some language, drug use