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Varsha Seshan

My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece

posted on April 24, 2017

As Gratiano didn't quite say, I love this book, and 'tis my love that speaks.I loved the book, but I did have issues with it - issues that made shuffle uncomfortably.As I read My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece, I think the first thing that startled me was the imagery that seems to compare Sunya to a present and her hijab to sparkly wrapping paper. Honestly, I don't know why the line bothered me so much. It seems so inoffensive there, not really objectifying, not really saying anything that could be so disconcerting. But I think that exactly was the problem for me - that there was nothing wrong with thinking about a person like a present, an object.The second thing that bothered me was the way Jamie wants to defend someone his father calls a 'Paki'. She may not be a Paki. That made all kinds of bells ring within me. I remembered a piece I read about a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: Annabel Pitcher, British Library, My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece, reading, review