Happy Tuesday and Happy Pub Day to this beautiful new work of literary historical fiction, Silent Hearts, set in Afghanistan and written by Gwen Florio.
My Thoughts:
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
5 piercing stars to Silent Hearts! 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟
Farida Basra is an educated Pakistani woman, and on top of that she has been working outside the home to help support her mother and father. Although they are all educated, her family’s finances are limited because of Farida’s grandfather’s decision to oppose the Partition of Pakistan from India.
Farida’s parents worry she will never marry. She has not been happy with any potential suitors. They finally take a “bride price” for her in exchange for her marriage to someone she has never met, the illiterate son of an Afghan strongman. Farida worries desperately for her future and what this marriage will mean for her, as she will likely have to accept a traditional role in her marriage. Once she marries, eventually she is living with her husband in Afghanistan.
Liv Stoellner is an American aid worker who has moved to Afghanistan along with her husband to help women reclaim their lives after years of subservience, servitude, and abject violence under Taliban rule. She and her husband, Martin, have their own crosses to bear within themselves and in their marriage. They are hoping for a fresh start and a new purpose.
For Farida and her husband, Gul, moving to Afghanistan is full of sacrifices from each of them with Farida losing contact with her family, and Gul having to confront demons from a lifetime ago.
The two women are bound together as friends as Farida works as Liv’s interpreter. Both women are resilient and strong, and they each have different experiences in Kabul and are treated dissimilarly.
What I loved most was gaining insight into people’s experiences in Afghanistan post-September 11, especially the contrasting experiences of the female main characters. Gwen Florio is a journalist, and her writing is like butter, silky smooth, and the pacing built in intensity as the story moved along.
Overall, Silent Hearts is a deeply resonant story that challenged my thinking about cultural differences, power, politics, and the status of women across many cultures, including my own. Silent Hearts is highly recommended if you are looking for enthralling and thought-provoking storytelling.
Thank you to Atria Books for the complimentary copy of this most unforgettable read. Silent Hearts is available now!
View all my reviews
Synopsis:
“Highly recommended, especially for fans of Khaled Hosseini.”— Library Journal (starred review)
“A rich, haunting, immersive story of cultures at the crossroads—deeply moving. A heart-smashingly good read, the kind of novel you’ll want to share with your book club.”—Jamie Ford, New York Times bestselling author of Love and Other Consolation Prizes and Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
For fans of A Thousand Splendid Suns comes a stirring novel set in Afghanistan about two women—an American aid worker and her local interpreter—who form an unexpected friendship despite their utterly different life experiences and the ever-increasing violence that surrounds them in Kabul.
In 2001, Kabul is suddenly a place of possibility as people fling off years of repressive Taliban rule. This hopeful chaos brings together American aid worker Liv Stoellner and Farida Basra, an educated Pakistani woman still adjusting to her arranged marriage to Gul, the son of an Afghan strongman whose family spent years of exile in Pakistan before returning to Kabul.
Both Liv and her husband take positions at an NGO that helps Afghan women recover from the Taliban years. They see the move as a reboot—Martin for his moribund academic career, Liv for their marriage. But for Farida and Gul, the move to Kabul is fraught, severing all ties with Farida’s family and her former world, and forcing Gul to confront a chapter in his life he’d desperately tried to erase.
The two women, brought together by Farida’s work as an interpreter, form a nascent friendship based on their growing mutual love for Afghanistan, though Liv remains unaware that Farida is reporting information about the Americans’ activities to Gul’s family, who have ties to the black market.
As the bond between Farida and Liv deepens, war-scarred Kabul acts in different ways upon them, as well as their husbands. Silent Hearts is an absorbing, complex portrayal of two very different but equally resilient women caught in the conflict of a war that will test them in ways they never imagined.
Sounds fantastic! Brilliant review, Jennifer🌺
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Thank you, Hajar! 💗 This one really captured my heart!
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What a lovely review, Jennifer! This sounds like a beautifully written story.
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Thank you, Jonetta! It is- the author took me to a different time and place and the characters became real people.
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Wow! Sounds great! Lovely review and once again…GORGEOUS PICTURE!
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Thanks, Reeca! This book is powerful and just so incredibly well-written!
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You know I love historical fiction so I will be on the lookout for this one. I am reading one now set in Afghanistan called Entangled Lives. It is written about a reporter who is relating the life of a Taliban man. Fascinating! Fantastic review!
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Thanks, Marialyce! I think you would love this book. Diane, Esil, and Angela also enjoyed it over on GR. Ohhh, your book sounds terrific, too! I will be watching for your review on that one!
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Wonderful review, I did enjoy reading the Kite Runner, this sounds like one I’d like too…Thanks for the review Jennifer!☀️
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Thank you, Lana! ♥️ I think you’d like it as well. It’s such a smooth historical read!
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Pretty picture. Awesome review. I like historical fiction. Happy Tuesday.🌹🌻
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Thank you, Virginia! Isn’t historical fiction the best? I love it, too. I hope you have a great Tuesday! 💗
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Have you read Yesr of Wonders? By Geraldine Brooks. I really enjoyed that title. About the Black Plague.
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I haven’t, and I have wanted to! Thanks so much for the rec!
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Awesome review Jen! This one sounds like a fantastic read!😊💖
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Thanks, Sus! I really loved the writing, and I will never forget these two characters or their friendship. ♥️ 💗
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Sounds like another one for the TBR! Wonderful review!
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Thank you, Tina! It is such a wonderful read! So much to think about!
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Oh wow Jenn, this looks amazing. Wonderful review… you really make this sound like a worthwhile read!
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Thanks so much, Nina! This book really got to me!
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Beautiful review Jennifer! Mellisa Holly and you need to read a historical fiction book with me! Give me inspiration💕💕💕
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Thanks, Berit! We do need to get you to read one! This one takes place in 2001- so not too far back in history! There are lots of options! We will win you over yet! 💗
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I posted my review today too! I thought the writing was brilliant.
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I will go check out your review, Nikki! I’m happy you enjoyed this one, too!
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Another one that sounds great – you’re on a roll this week! I think we might have to ban you from the blogosphere till we get our TBRs back under control… 😉
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I felt like I hit the jackpot with this one, FF! I hope my books later this week aren’t as enticing! 😉 😊
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Gorgeous review Jen, I do love a bit of historical fiction, I think my favourite one of recent times has to be The Nightingale! 😍
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Thanks, Beth! The Nightingale is a show-stopper of a read for sure! 💗
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In our tumultuous times, this sounds like a very insightful read!! 💖
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It is, Nicole! It left me thinking about so much. ♥️
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Lovely review Jennifer! I couldn’t tell from the cover and title what this one would be but you made it sound like a good one! 🙂
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Thanks, Carrie! It was so, sooooo good. It was much more than I imagined, too.
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You’re quite welcome! 🙂
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