REVIEW: In the Time of Our History

This one reminded me of A Woman is No Man or Thrity Umrigar’s Honor. We get a story about the realities of women living in cultures / religions where they are expected to be subservient and less than. Mitra is a modern woman living in the US and although her parents live here as well, their relationship and expectations for their daughters are very traditional. In choosing herself she loses the connection with her family. She also feels incapable of forming a relationship of any substance with any man because she does not want to lose her autonomy. 

After the death of her sister, she is forced home and must confront the truths of their family. There are definitely passages that are hard to read and abuses that break your heart. (For folks who want trigger warnings there is sexual violence, verbal abuse and physical mutilation described.) I always find the idea that being an immigrant leads to this perception that someone can not be American enough and conversely to their own people, in this case Iran, they will never be Irani enough. You’d think after centuries of people moving from place to place these prejudices would fade. That celebrating your culture while enjoying being immersed in another would truly be what the modern world is about. Also the idea that if a woman is raped, she brought it on in some way is always hard to swallow, especially when even women perpetuate this idea.

We do see progress in some family members and that will have to be enough, as is true in our own families. Regardless of our cultures, in families we ignore small slights and sometimes choose to not confront the things that keep us apart. In stories like these, while there are aspects that are new or “foreign” it’s always amazing to me how the human experience is quite the same.

Thanks to Highbridge Audio for gifted access to the audiobook via Netgalley. The narrator was great! All opinions above are my own.