Home Fire: A Novel

This book was a true “thriller”. I couldn’t put it down. It was superbly written. But then again, that is just part of the issue, the subject matter and the plot were not only fascinating but hit very close to home. I watched the interview with the author where she talks about transposing a modern day story onto the ancient tragedy of antigone. And as greek dramas go, we all know that the tragic outcome is inescapable. Inescapable destiny in life as well as in drama unfolds before our eyes daily, here and around the world. American books & movies, as well as the predominant culture there requires happy endings and resolution of disputes. British culture is split between these two approaches as is our author. Although i find she is far more pragmatic and Asian in her approach. Other cultures accept the inevitable and problems sans solutions. Isma is pragmatic, she is thoroughly British and yet very deeply rooted and influenced by her origins, but keeps a very even balance. The twins are far more volatile and less rooted. They seem more imprisoned between two cultures, affected and influenced by both but never really committed to either. They are young & confused, on a trajectory they cannot control or understand. Bringing home the story was also interesting. Living with citizens who are a minority and Who identify with our adversaries is never easy. Both sides are constantly juggling between fear, loathing, civil rights, human relations and political correctness as well as political interests. We are all torn between the desire for security which demands constant awareness and the desire to live in a world free from suspicion and worry. Also the lack of truly open discussion about islam and the cultural war taking place under our noses is what Karamat Lone has tried to do, making him unpopular with both his co religionists and his compatriots. Literature teaches us, helps us examine ourselves & our world, it does not change a thing, not Sophocles & not Kamila Shamsie. ❤️✌🏻❤️✌🏻

“Habits of secrecy are damaging things.” Home Fire, long listed for this year’s Mann Booker Prize, is Kamila Shamsie’s much acclaimed 7th novel, and the first of hers I’ve read though I’ve long admired her essays. Shamsie uses the old Greek myth about Antigone, to underpin a very modern story following a British Pakistani family based in London. Note: I would recommend not re-reading Antigone beforehand unless you want spoilers to almost every plot point in the book (I refreshed my failed memory afterwards ). Isma Pasha is in her late 20s, quiet and hard working, about to start a graduate program in the States. Her life is finally in her own hands after helping raise her much younger siblings, twins Aneeka (the headstrong beautiful one) and Parvaiz (the dangerously aimless one). Their parents are long dead, their father a jihadist, often absent through their childhood, yet still a powerful pull. The handsome son of a controversial political figure in London enters their lives, and the novel races from taut beginning to shocking end. “For girls, becoming women was inevitability; for boys, becoming men was ambition.” Shamsie is a brilliant psychological writer, and her characters inhabit class, race, and gender in varying and vivid states. The scenes are sharply and finely drawn, the dialogue precise and clever, and the plot vibrates with increasing intensity. There is a bit of hysteria and Hollywood overblown-ness towards the end, though in fairness, Greek tragedies aren't exactly understated either. Neither, for that matter, is the war on terror or the war on the west. I'm also a little over fraternal boy-girl twins being portrayed as mind-meld ESP close. One of the most powerful lessons Home Fire drove home for me was how the government programs that pursue and punish home grown radicals end up devastating their families. Isma barely knew her father, and her younger siblings never even met him, yet his jihadist life and mysterious death haunt them long after, not just psychologically, but legally, logistically, inescapably. Rifts are created within their family and community, educational and professional ambitions are disrupted, their very movement through the world thwarted. It’s terrifying to see these effects ripple through and to begin to understand how Muslim communities, and by racist conflation, people of color, are affected by Western anti-terrorism programs and policies. Home Fire is a novel for our times, stretching from family ties and community to the wider sweep of global terrorism, religion and radicalism, immigration and nativism, and what we do for love and war. The book will keep you turning pages, but moreover, its gift is its resonance, making the intimate a deeply political act, and the political honing unerringly home.

If truth be known, I picked up Home Fire with some reluctance. My fear was that Home Fire would be another over-simplified book, painting its Muslim characters as either wild-eyed terrorists or pitiful victims. I needn’t have worried. This is a nuanced book that is good – so good, in fact, that Ms. Shamsie had me in thrall right ‘til the extraordinarily powerful last lines. The book is based loosely on Sophocles’ Antigone, and even in stating that, I’m probably relaying too much. The crux of the plot is an unexpected romance between Aneeka, the twin sister of Parvaiz, who has been seduced into leaving London to work for the so-called media arm of ISIS, and Eamonn, the secular son of the British home secretary who has turned his back on his Muslim faith. Aneeka and Parvaiz were orphaned early on and raised by an older sister who is now studying in America. The bond between the twins is unbreakable. It is far too easy to create spoilers for this book so let me just say this: the themes of duty to country vs. duty to self, natural (or religious) law vs. man-made law and ambition vs. humanity is interwoven with a mesmerizing story of star-crossed lovers in the crossfires of a particularly intense time. The novel is well-paced and explosive with an organic ending that unsettled me and broke my heart. This is a powerful exploration of love, justice and a quest for salvation that could not be more timely.

The book came a little bad but overall it’s good

I’ve seen it mentioned in other reviews that Home Fire is meant to be loosely based on the story of Antigone. Not being particularly well-versed in the plays of Sophocles, I read this more as a version of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. It is not surprising that people are noticing classical antecedents for Home Fire in one way or another because this novel has a mythical and timeless quality to it. There is a multi-generational clash of families and a doomed love affair, for example. There are also two sisters of nearly opposite temperaments who are faced with difficult, life-altering decisions. There is the backdrop of war and terrorism overlaid with the personal drama of conflicting loyalties. And there is the inevitable tragic ending that is too much to be believed. (There is also a lot of ice applied to a corpse over a number of days, but I won’t get into that.) All in all, I was awed by Shamsie’s ability to weave a complex and heartbreaking story while shifting the narrative perspective among several characters (a structural device that is very in vogue at the moment). The last 20% got a bit absurd for my tastes (ice+corpse+days), and the writing/voice didn’t stand out to me as particularly beautiful or unique, so it’s four stars for me.

Warning: Contains some spoilers. I heard about this novel in a segment on NPR several months ago and was intrigued enough to purchase it in the hardback format. I rarely give books five stars, but this is hands-down the best book I've read this year. I won't rehash the plot. If you haven't read the other reviews, it might be helpful to note that this story is a modern retelling of "Antigone", which may help those who remember their high school world lit classes understand the structure of the novel. Antigone is my favorite Greek tragedy. Shamsie stands with Jean Anouilh in her interpretation of Sophocles' work. The writing is very good - spare, elegant, and engaging. Shamsie did a fine job of evoking the motivations of Ismene and Antigone in a realistic manner. There was even a bit of deus ex machina in the plot, which may lead some to view the story line as contrived, but had me applauding the subtle nod to the Greek original. Some reviewers did not care for the characterization, though I respectfully disagree. She took the viewpoints of the four main characters, giving enough background on the characters for the reader to understand why they make the decisions and take the actions which their histories and personalities turn into immutable destiny. Despite its relatively low page count, this is not a light read. It's a work of beauty and depth which requires the reader's full attention in order to absorb the ramifications of the characters' actions and appreciate the intricacies of how our choices affect our microcosmic social circles and society at large. Most of the main characters have strong moral outlooks which have evolved based upon their experiences and beliefs. Karamat Lone is not a caricature of a stereotypical venal politician, which would be fairly easy to depict. instead, Shamsie explores his past and present actions through the lens of his experiences and beliefs which outside observers and political opponents have labeled hypocritical or opportunistic. This is a vastly rewarding work which will stay with the reader long after the last page has been turned. Shamsie has succeeded in her goal of updating a Greek classic while making the characters and storyline completely her own.

It took me a while to get into this book and start to figure things out. But once I did, I was hooked. We start out learning about a British woman of Pakistani heritage being questioned by airport authorities while leaving London for the US. She insists on identifying as a Britisher, and resenting the racist treatment she receives. This introduces one of the big themes of the novel, namely whether a person born in the UK is really British if their parents came from elsewhere. In one of the many plot twists, we see a person of similar heritage rising to political prominence, and insisting that even being born in a country doesn't make you a real citizen. Such hypocrisy. The story switches then to London, where we meet the first woman's twin siblings, much younger, whom she raised. The boy has disappeared, probably with some Muslim extremist group overseas. The other twin, a girl, is a rebel trying to rescue her brother. This novel has some amazing insights about: (a) why people become religious extremists; (b) the difficulties of being a hyphenated Britisher (or, for that matter, American, Canadian, Australian, etc.); (c) the many complexities of trying to be Muslim in a modern society; the deep bonds and also resentments among siblings; and (d) the question of whether romantic love can be as real, or more trustworthy, than familial ties. This novel is emotionally wrenching. Some of the writing seems a bit over the top. However, I really admire the author for her courage in tackling these difficult topics, and for selecting a wide range of viewpoint characters. Her outrage about torture at the US-led Bagram AF Base in Afghanistan caused me to do research right away. What I learned was so distressing that it was hard for me to re-enter the world of the novel. The ending is extremely dramatic. Not fun. Not hopeful or heartwarming. Tragic. But then what do we expect in a book that deals with ISIS?

I’m not sure quite what I expected from this book, but I was unable to put it down. The story of two sisters and their brother, all of Pakistani heritage, living in London and the United States, was excellently plotted, and gave no easy answers. The issue of the radicalization of young Anglo-Pakistanis is explored in a way that illustrates the conflicting motivations that can cause this to happen. The ending isn’t easy, but seems inevitable, which is all one can ask for.

dentro de la tendencia actual a revivir mitos clásicos (Barker con la ILiada, Miller con Circe y tantos otros), Shamsie juega con Antígona en un escenario posmoderno de política, identidad y exilio. Buenos personajes y reflexiones sobre la modernidad.

What a stunning read! This novel gave a profound in sight into how young British Muslims are radicalised. The story is told through the eyes of five characters: a young woman (Isma, whose voice I could have listened to for much longer) and her twin siblings, all of whose lives are tainted by the legacy of their jihadist father. The other two are privileged Eamonn, who connects with Isma but falls in love with her younger sister, and his father, the home secretary, the child of working-class Pakistani Muslim migrants, who makes his fortune in the corporate world before becoming Home Secretary, and whose policies are those of white Conservatives. It is a retelling of the Greek play Antigone, but you don't need to know this to enjoy the a story. Despite the challenging subject matter, the book is a page-turner. I found it hard to put down yet, by the end felt bereft because I cared so much for these characters. I feel no hesitation in recommending this to everyone. And the ending is one of the most remarkable I've ever read.

Terrorism, politics and love twine in this amazing novel. Totally credible characters lead us to a world of personal conflicts which mark the path they choose to follow or, maybe, they are condemn to walk.

Incredibly well written novel providing insights that feel 100% genuine. What happens to families grieving the loss of loved ones, manipulated by external forces, and torn apart by circumstances often beyond their control? Home Fire explores all of this which has the reader feeling empathy even for the "enemy." The brainwashing (and that is not nearly a strong enough word for what happens to Parvaiz) is heart rending as is Aneeka's grief. This story will haunt you and have you asking "why? how? but?" as you watch the news which you will no longer take at face value. Powerful stuff.

The book as a product was amazing, I loved the cover. I story was okay I mean I didn't enjoy it so much. Might be because I had a view already of the book before I even read it. But some the lines and bits of the book stayed in my mind long after I completed it. It was so much based on the reality that I found it little unfair, but I guess that's what world is unfair. I loved how the writer portraits their helplessness against fate, also how each of the siblings decides to take action. It is kind of very touching, it reaches some unnamed, unrecognized parts of your heart and it's emotions.