Tale of a Boon’s Wife by Fartumo Kusow
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The author, who also escaped Somalia during the civil war, writes about a woman who marries for love, and outside her tribe. Similar to how the Indian’s had/have a cast system, where you were supposed to marry at your level or above, and never marry an untouchable, so too in Somalia, apparently, to marry a Boon was the worst offense, as they had once been slaves of the upper tribes.
Idil wants to marry for love, despite it meaning that she will lose everything. Not quite a Romeo and Juliet story, but one that shows how rank, especially during a civil war, can mean the matter of life and death.
Very realistic story. Very sad, but I love how determined Idil is. Although when she is fighting with her parents about wanting to marry for love, in the beginning, I thought she was a broken record. Later, that broken record was her loyalty.
Learned a lot, by reading this book. I had to keep looking up information on the civil war in Somalia, and the history.
Plus I stayed up late to finish this book. Truly amazing story. Yes, there were bits that lagged, but not enough to move my rating down
Thanks to Netgalley and Second Story books for making this book available for an honest review.