A PLACE FOR US by Fatima Farheen Mirza

The wildly scattered timeline in this novel finally settles down in the second half, resuming the opening scene of Hadia’s wedding.  Her long-lost brother, Amar, is in attendance, as is his former girlfriend, Amira.  Their relationship is at the core of this novel, along with Amar’s relationship with his parents and sisters.  He has always struggled to keep up with his sisters academically and behaviorally, setting low expectations for himself that are substantiated by the other members of his family.  Their benevolent condescension ends abruptly when his substance abuse problems become obvious.  Unfortunately, however, Amar’s downhill slide is inadvertently brought on by his mother, when she takes action against the one aspect of Amar’s life that might save him.  Throughout the novel, good intentions have disastrous results.  Muslim culture is also at play here, dictating how interaction between boys and girls is discouraged.  The last half of the book, largely narrated by Amar’s father, is very moving, but unfortunately the first half failed to convince me of Amar’s kindness and charm.  He comes across as a self-loathing boy and young man who does not have the tools or support to dig out of a deep, dark hole.