What readers think of A Place for Us, plus links to write your own review.

Just started book. I recommend making a list of characters and their relationship to each other on paper. Makes it easier to follow along with the story.

On a wall in my home I have a chalkboard that I write sayings on that have touched me in some way. I used to change these sayings frequently but the words on it today have been there for the past two years. "Life is short ...there is no time to leave important things unsaid..."

I grew up in a multi-generational home, an Irish/Italian family, third generation on both sides. Part of a close, loving, laughing family where secrets were closely guarded from the children and no one honestly shared their thoughts, fears and scary feelings if that would cause family members to be upset. The only exception was anger which exploded out at times.

Sound familiar? Fatima has written a story that felt so real to me. Different ethnicity, different religion, different area of our country but so eerily similar in so many ways. It was uncomfortable to read at times because I was yelling at the characters to please stop talking, please let it go, please do not say that ... I wanted them to know that what they were doing was not going to end well ... trust me on this one.

I had to stop reading several times and shake off their lives and problems because I became too involved and frustrated with the entire family.

As someone who has been in the same book club for over 20 years, I think this book is a treasure trove of themes we would love to discuss. However, I also think some of my fellow members might feel the book was slow to read and structurally difficult because of the constant and sudden movement between the past and present.

However, I will encourage my friends to persevere because the opportunity to intimately take part in the life of this family is a gift we all need in these divided times. We need to walk in each other's shoes for understanding to begin growing ... Fatima Arleen Mirza allows us to do that.

A well-told generational story about the clash between old world traditions and mores and more modern ones. This talented author has done a fine job in depicting the enduring love and the heartbreak that occur in so many families.

The crux of the book was the ongoing conflict between a stern and unyielding father and his wayward son. Although father-son conflicts have been written about since Biblical times this one had a different approach. The mother and the two older sisters added some spice to the family dynamics.

The non-linear story development of the story added charm to the book; the inner monologues of the fourth chapter were powerful indeed. A Place for Us was not a quick or easy read, but a very satisfying one.

Beautifully written, A Place for Us introduces us to an Indian Muslim family finding their own place in California. It covers love, family, faith, betrayal, contrition, absolution as we follow the family and watch the the two sisters and their brother grow from young children to mature adults. We see the mistakes that are made and experience the heartache that can follow. My only problem with this book is the structure which goes back and forth in time and from one character's perspective to another and which sometimes broke the flow for me and was not always as smooth as I would have liked. I did enjoy learning more about this family's faith.

A Muslim man immigrates to the United States, arranges a marriage, has a family and settles into life in California. Rafiq and Layla are very traditional parents fully embraced by their religion and way of life it demands. Their children, Hadia, Huma and Amar must feel their way into adulthood navigating the safe yet complex practice of their religion while testing the free will of American life. As can be expected it is a bumpy at times treacherous road.
Author Mirza's prose is littered with descriptive sentences that provide a vivid image but may or may not be germane to the action. Mirza also spends much time inside the head of her characters, switching people and time periods with little warning. These methods drag down an already slow moving novel to a snail's pace.
That being said there is a lot to like about A Place for Us. The dictates of the Muslim religion are detailed and enlightening. The all too common parental angst about raising children into successful adults are touching and heart felt. A Place for Us makes clear there is no one manual with all the answers to how to live life, regardless of religion.
Recommended for those who have the time to wade through what at times seems tedious melodrama to harvest some common ground between religions, parents and children.

I liked the way the author began the book in the present time and then went back to the early days of the children and brought the issues of the family from there forward to the present. Usually I rate a book as "I really liked it" or "I didn't like it too much. I don't rate this one either way. I just have to say that I felt very sad for this family as written by the author. Just a note to say that the book brought forth memories in my own family, not of a cultural nature, but of my son who didn't like our house rules and moved out while he was still in high school.
I would be interested to find out what prompted the author to write on the issues in the book since the book is labeled as fiction.

A Place for Us is a debut novel by Fatima Mirza and published by Sarah Jessica Parker's imprint. The book was different from what I had expected. It was well written. This is the story about an American-Muslim families dealing with what it means to be an individual and still a part of the family. Do you have your own hopes and dreams that might go against what was expected and still feel comfortable? Or do you go along with what others desire?I feel fortunate to have received an ARC of the novel. I enjoyed reading it and at times it brought about different emotions-joy, sorrow, pain and love. This would be a good book club read.

The story of a Muslim American family attempting to sustain religious and traditional family values in a country that is foreign to them. The many obstacles that conspire to tear their family apart are handled with faith, love and repentance. I enjoyed the book but I wish that many of the Arabic words could have been translated.