I...don't know how I feel about this story.

On one hand, it's a soft, quiet story of rebellion and perseverance and change while every day life is going on. On the other, it's cloying and too foreign for my brain - not because it takes place in Bangladesh or because it's about a rebellion I know little to nothing about but because it's about a mother's all-consuming love for her children, something I am completely unfamiliar with, and about passive resistance brought on not through strong personal beliefs but through devotion to offspring.

Maya's story made sense to me. But then, I immerse myself in tales of stubborn girls who fight for what they believe in. Suhail (I'm making spellings up, now) is the perfect foil for Maya - less charismatic (although they keep talking about what a charmer he is), more intellectual, but involved in a war because, well, his friends are doing it and he really should do it, too. Conviction vs Convenience. And yet Rehana takes to the war efforts because of her unconvincing son, not her passionate daughter. She doesn't even really like her daughter. But her son can do no wrong, even though he's just going with the flow. She follows his wake and somehow, that's enough to get them all safely to the other side. This left me bemused.

And there was a love story. It surprised me. I didn't expect to see it there.
But then there were funny neighbors and heart-tugging moments and brave excursions, too. And still, the story never gripped me. I was just listening.
And, of course, there is Madhur Jaffrey's voice. I think I will kidnap her one day and force her to read to me. Because I'm evil like that.