I think this is the first “adult” book I’ve been able to review here at mere musings. That’s what happens when I actually get a week off from teaching and finally get a library card! Yay!
While I am shouting a big “Yay!” let me go ahead and give another one for Uzma Aslam Khan’s Trespassing. I absolutely love it when I read a book that is so phenomenal that I just want to shout it from the mountaintop! Trespassing is most definitely one of those books. After reading Persepolis a few weeks ago, I decided to continue my quest to read more books about the modern Middle East, so that is how I came across Trespassing.
I will attempt to quickly summarize a somewhat lengthy and engrossing plot: in many ways Trespassing is a Romeo & Juliet-esque story of forbidden love set in Pakistan in the early 1990’s. However, the beauty of Khan’s novel lies in her decision to divide the book into sections, each narrated by a different character. Through this ever-changing narration, we learn about each character’s past as well, so it becomes more than just a story about the taboo love affair happening in the present, but also how the past has had its influence on each character in the present. I can’t say much more without giving away some major spoilers! And there are some great plot twists in this novel that I would hate to give away!
As I was reading Trespassing I kept thinking, “Okay, pretty basic story. This could really be set anywhere, right? It doesn’t have to be Pakistan…or does it?” Well, yes, it does have to be Pakistan. If this story were transplanted to anywhere in the West it would completely disintegrate. On the surface it is a basic story about forbidden love, but, if we delve deeper, Trespassing is a story about culture clash. Several of the characters wrestle with their identity as Pakistani, and, furthermore, several of the characters study in the West and struggle with their identity as Pakistani in light of the personal awakenings they experienced while out of Pakistan. Also, Khan puts the issue of women’s rights in the forefront of her novel. This could not be such a unique and multi-faceted issue if the story were set elsewhere.
Trespassing is one of those novels that has given me food for thought and that I can feel is going to haunt me for the next few days – exactly what I am looking for in a good read. This is not some average run-of-the-mill romance novel, but instead a thick, lush, intricately-woven tale of not just forbidden love of another person and the complications that come with, but also conflicting love and hate towards one’s country, one’s family, and one’s own identity in light of all of that. I am declaring it a treasure of a novel!
