Saleema Nawaz

this is a big, heartfelt novel. nawaz has created some very interesting, complicated characters and so much of the dynamics of relationships felt true and real. the psychology at play in this book will have me thinking for ages to come. while the novel very much navigates the terrain of sisterhood, it's also reads a bit like a mystery, as the circumstances of sadhana's death, though known, are more fully explored and, eventually, revealed. i wasn't quite fully captured by the inclusion of show more the political unrest going on in quebec at the time, and which was included as one arc in the book. it just didn't hit solid footing for me. (another recent read of mine, which i loved and that handled the quebec referendum quite well, elizabeth hay's His Whole Life.) otherwise, there are some wonderfully meaty themes going on in the story.

i have owned this book since its publication - yes it's taken me a while to get to it! but i am so glad i have finally read it, and that it made the cut for this year's edition of canada reads. the theme for the show in 2016 is 'starting over'. so this context was very much in mind as i read. i have read 3 of the 5 contenders so far (Minister Without Portfolio, by Michael Winter and The Illegal, by Lawrence Hill being the other two). i have certainly appreciated the resiliency, and ability for the characters in each of the books to carry on and continue moving forward. is this the same as starting over, though? of course, all of these traits/abilities are so important and necessary in a person being able to start over. so it's been interesting to approach each of these stories in the context of 'canada reads'. but, as happens every year, i wonder how my experience with a book would be without the program in my mind??

there is one line in nawaz's novel which completely speaks to the theme, though, and i fully expect it to be noted, quoted and built upon on the show. (context: at a diner for breakfast, celebrating a birthday; the girls were raised as vegetarians. from p. 343.)

"Of all meals, breakfast the way it was served in a diner bore the least connection to anything we had grown up eating. It was nourishment without attachment, merciful food. Every piece of bacon was like starting over as someone else."

but, back to 'bone & bread' (sorry about my 'canada reads' tangent) - nawaz's writing is beautiful and this is a strong debut novel. i hope you will read it, if you haven't already. show less

Ah, sometimes it feels so good to leave one’s comfort zone and be reminded of the joys inherent in superb storytelling, no matter the content or genre. Nawaz effortlessly cuts back and forth through time, following Beena as adult and child, letting the reader travel alongside her as she slowly pieces together the elements of her life. Her characters breathe real, their pains ache beyond the page. It’s a novel filled with moments of grief, toil, and random cruelty, yet it never feels show more oppressive, never crumbles under its own weight. Nawaz’s graceful plotting and style keep the story intimate, tender, and surprisingly funny.

Read the full review at The Redeblog. show less

between 2 and 2.5 stars. it's pretty incredible to me that she wrote this before covid; her research was impeccable because the coronavirus she created and the world reaction to it mirrors, in so many little and big ways, what happened when covid came. that alone is impressive. (it also makes me think that if a nonscientist could predict what she did, we should have - as a world - been more prepared and more anticipatory.)

this is well written and realistic but i had some trouble keeping the show more connections between the people clear in my mind. which social circles intersected and how, which people were related and how. maybe it's reading it during an actual pandemic, but i wasn't as interested in the stories of the people themselves and just found myself comparing how our covid pandemic related to their aramis pandemic. this is a book, though, less about the actual pandemic and the way the coronavirus affects people, and more about the relationships between people and how people respond and react to outside changes that they can't do much about.

"He wonders if he has only forgotten what it's like to be a child - how not to see at a glance the shape of an ending before you begin."

"All the countries she'd visited while always feeling from nowhere. Or from a place more of the mind than real, half remembered, half described. And everywhere along the way picking up a phrase, a food, a new favorite thing, markers and souvenirs. They might have been affectations. But maybe that was all character was, anyway, an accumulation of affectations." show less

As strange as this might sound, it was actually quite enjoyable to read (I actually listened) a book set during a pandemic during this COVID pandemic. This is the second one that I’ve read - the first was The End of October by Lawrence Wright.
There were many passages in Songs for the end of the world where I found myself thinking, Yes, that’s it exactly. Nawaz also does a wonderful job of creating characters whose lives intersect in engaging ways. My favourite book quote came from an show more observation made by Elliot as he was returning to the city:
“The closer you got to the heart of a calamity, the more resilience there was to be found.”
Although sections of her book are quite sad, overall I found the book left me satisfied and hopeful. show less