06/10/2022
Book: Mariam Sharma Hits the Road
Author: Sheba Karim
Genre: Pakistani American YA, Travel (road trip)
Synopsis from Goodreads:
The summer after her freshman year in college, Mariam is looking forward to working and hanging out with her best friends: irrepressible and beautiful Ghazala and religious but closeted Umar. But when a scandalous photo of Ghaz appears on a billboard in Times Square, Mariam and Umar come up with a plan to rescue her from her furious parents. And what better escape than New Orleans?
The friends pile into Umar's car and start driving south, making all kinds of pit stops along the way--from a college drag party to a Muslim convention, from alarming encounters at roadside diners to honky-tonks and barbeque joints.
Along with the adventures, the fun banter, and the gas station junk food, the friends have some hard questions to answer on the road. With her uncle's address in her pocket, Mariam hopes to learn the truth about her father (and to make sure she didn't inherit his talent for disappearing). But as each mile of the road trip brings them closer to their own truths, they know they can rely on each other, and laughter, to get them through.
Not a review:
"So little of the world makes sense. It's only that most people either construct a narrative in which it does or try to ignore it."
It took me a few chapters to realize that the book wasn't entirely about Mariam, as the title literally says, "Mariam Sharma Hits the Road. " Although portrayed through a Mariam-centric lens, the story is as equally about two of her friends. Ghazala and Umar, the friends, come from stereotypical Pakistani-American Muslim families. Mariam, on the contrary, lives with her brother, Shoaib, and her atypically understanding mother.
There's no plot twist in the story, no excitement for finding out what happens next; still, it was a page-turner. The writing style is, obviously, one of the reasons. But there's more.
The book has plenty of sub-continental socio-cultural references and hence, is relatable. The author touched upon topics like Islamophobia, homophobia, and racism (against black people) too. The conversations among the friends surrounding the issues didn't feel forced in any of the chapters, nor did the characters sound socially aware to the point that they came off as pretentious.
The book has plenty of sub-continental socio-cultural references and hence, is relatable. The author touched upon topics like Islamophobia, homophobia, and racism (against black people) too. The conversations among the friends surrounding the issues didn't feel forced in any of the chapters, nor did the characters sound socially aware to the point that they came off as pretentious.
The personal struggles of Mariam and Ghazala are mostly portrayed through the empathetic gestures offered by the friends, unpacked in chunks of chapters. Umar's was unfolded differently.
The battle Umar was inescapably a part of - the battle of coming to terms with his faith and sexuality, is worth mentioning. As much as I hate the quintessential representation of marginalized communities solely for the sake of being perceived as inclusive and progressive, the debate between Umar and Ghazala, with polar opposite views regarding the juxtaposition of two different identities, is worth highlighting. Preferring to be labeled as a gay Muslim, Umar has his own interpretations of the constantly brought-up references that condone homosexuality. Referring to the same references, Ghazala has different perceptions and based on those, she thinks it's hypocritical for Umar to tag himself with two seemingly contradictory traits.
In the end, the characters, although friends, were not the best of their kind. They weren't the most empathetic. No wonder the story sounded realistic.
To put it in, here's another quote I loved and luckily cannot relate to half of it: "I didn't believe there was only one person you were meant to be with. I didn't doubt I'd fall in love again one day."