Taking part in the BritMums Book Club with Penguin is a great way to score a free copy of new books, read along with a group of fellow bloggers and discuss what you loved (or hated) about them in the comfort of your own home. Our inaugural book is Honour by Elif Safak. Book Club hostess Jacqueline Steward starts us off on the discussion below. Read what she thought about the book and join in.
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Discussing Honour:
Can we ever escape from shared family history?
I spent two nights in a row over Easter reading Honour – and just loved it. I’ve had a few bad relationships with novels recently where I can sense the author has lost interest in their own novel and imagine they’re plotting the next novel/book tour instead – so I’ve lost interest too.
Honour is beautifully written and like all the best characters in life and fiction each one was rich and complex with big strengths and bigger weaknesses. It kept me gripped right till the end and left me with lots to think about. It impressed on me the struggle lots of people have in life particularly if they are living inside a restricted culture/community by choice or not.
Jacqueline reading ‘Honour’
Pembe was a strong, yet vulnerable character supported by her twin from near and far. Her children were so clearly drawn and like many trios I know shared the same qualities. Iskender’s self-made prison within prison was revealing and the importance and destruction family secrets can cause made me think, a lot. What was Iskender’s biggest punishment? His imprisonment, or his sibling’s decision to withhold crucial information about their Mother’s fate until after her death? For me, family justice meted out made uncomfortable reading. Esma was a daughter I could recognise and if anything I would have liked the youngest son, Yunus’ character to be fleshed out a bit more. How the youngest two survived, thrived and reacted in crisis was something I would have liked to know more.
I found Pembe raising Iskendar as the “sultan” within the family and her collusion with him alarming. Although Shafak is writing about one specific culture and being an “outsider” it also raised larger questions about the nature of raising boys and a mother’s responsibility generally. It made me think about the nature of Honour and the need for many to retain what they regard as personal family honour at any cost. The role of choosing not to see and not to hear is commonplace within the UK and again it made me uncomfortable as it made me think about British self-restraint. Why did Elias choose to be so passive when told of her death?
What about you? How did you read it? Was it just a great story? (Or, maybe you didn’t like it?) And/or did it make uncomfortable reading as a mother? Did it make you think about the devastating effect secrets and manipulation can have within families? Also, which characters really worked for you? Were there any weaknesses? Have you any great literary comparisons in subject or style you can share with us? In Blue Beret Mum’s Review she felt there were strong comparisons with Isabel Allende. Really looking forward to reading what you thought.
— Jacquelinex
P.S. The form for the next book John Banville’s Ancient Light will open soon. Again, it’s open to the first 100 who sign up (UK addresses only). The form will close once we’ve reached 100 so get in quick. We will update you via Twitter on @BritMums, G+ and BritMums Book Group Community on www.britmums.com/bookgroup regarding sign up. Any questions, just ask. For those outside the UK or unable to get a free copy, you can obviously buy here via Amazon or any good independent bookshop. Please list your posts reviewing Honour on this page so we can all share our experiences of reading the book. I will visit and comment on as many as I can see. There have been a few great reviews already.
About Jennifer Howze
Jennifer Howze is the Creative Director and co-founder of BritMums. She blogs about family travel at Jenography.net, tweets at @JHowze and Instagrams at @JHowze. Previously, she wrote the Alpha Mummy blog at The Times and as a journalist has contributed to The Times, The Guardian, The Independent, The Wall Street Journal, Travel & Leisure, Budget Travel, CNN.com, Allure, SELF and Premiere, among others. She won The Maggie Award from the Planned Parenthood Federation of America for a health article in Seventeen magazine.
Gina
Thursday 23rd of May 2013
Just added my link with my review. (www.ginasweetserenity.com) I loved the book. So happy to have had the chance to read it. It was fun reading all the reviews and opinions. Just received the new book Ancient Light yesterday ~ looking forward to getting started on it.
Jac
Friday 17th of May 2013
Ancient Light mail out from Penguin this evening Fri 17/05/13 - you should all have it by mid next week. Look forward to hearing your thoughts.
fivegoblogging
Monday 29th of April 2013
Finished! And loved it! So much so I've written a review for the blog and linked above. I'll be reading through everyone else's reviews later. So far haven't seen any comments that didn't like it. It will be on its way to the best seller chart then :-)
Sarah
Wednesday 24th of April 2013
I was a little apprehensive about reading the book, like others on here, it’s not my usual fare and I worried that as the story was set in a culture so far removed from my own that I wouldn’t be able to empathise with any of the characters. I needn’t have worried however, as although I found it a little hard to get into and the jumping between different character narratives and timeframes was distracting at first, I soon found that I couldn’t put it down!
Being a mum, I found it both disturbing and yet strangely compelling how differently boys and girls were (are still?) treated both in their home country and after moving to another country. The story shows how cultural values can be so pervasive that even though they are female, mothers accept that women have ‘shame’ and men have ‘honour’, and are complicit in perpetuating the cycle with their children.
Pembe had a charming naivety – her reaction to the blatant racism in the bakery was really touching; she was so trusting that she didn’t realise they were being racist. Her relationship with Elias was also very sweet and I liked that she found some happiness even fleetingly after years of stoically doing her duty for her family, and yet it was tragic that this led to her demise.
I also felt the ending to be a little rushed, and didn’t see the twist coming. I think I would read Elif Shafak’s other books based on having enjoyed this one.
Thank you BritMums book club for broadening my reading horizons!
Jacqueline
Wednesday 24th of April 2013
Hi Lunarossa Agree with you re: consistency of A Thousand Splendid Suns. I think we've all been left wanting a little bit more info at the end but then maybe the construct is deliberate because most life-stories are open-ended! It is still for me, the most engaging novel I've read for ages.