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Book Review of A Woman Is No Man

A Woman Is No Man
A Woman Is No Man
Author: Etaf Rum
Genre: Literature & Fiction
Book Type: Hardcover
debbiemd avatar reviewed on


This was a good book. I didn't love it only because it was very hard reading. Hard to read how the life of Arab women, especially those with old ways, is so restrictive. The physical abuse, the customs and traditions that keep them bound to home, the inability to have any freedom even to walk down the street. All of it was heartbreaking. And to see that it extends to the young women even in the US. It was fiction but I'm sure such shocking conditions do exist in many households. Even though the youngest character was trying to break free from that mold, and did a little bit at the very end, it was still difficult reading. I read it in two days because I wanted to find out what happened to Isra and also to see how if her daughter Deya would have the courage to rebel from the forced structure and arranged marriage.