A House Without Windows by Nadia Hashimi

 

Like many of Nadia Hashimi's books, this story also is based out of Afghanistan. Nadia has this fantastic way of praising...sorry that is in an incorrect word, not praising, it's holding women up in high esteem through her storytelling that touches my heart like no other. 

Zeba has killed her husband Kamaal, with a hatchet. His blood on her hands. She sits by his body numb and shocked. Maybe even some relief. She refuses to get away from the crie scene. She does nothing to hide what she has done. She does not flee knowing that with the death of her husband, her death was written too. She does not fight with anyone about the truth. She does not want to give any explanation of her deed. She did what she thought was right and fair in her eyes. A man could do just about anything and yet be forgiven but a woman taking matters in her hand needed to be condemned. All she wanted was her children to love and respect her and know that whatever she did, was purely in their interest. 

"Children always forgive their mothers. That's the way God's designed them. He gives them two arms, two legs, and a heart that will cry 'mother' until the day it stops beating."

A woman who has had the audacity to raise her voice, mind and hand on her husband does not deserve to be alive, forget forgiven. The society she lived in has been kind.  They chose to send her to Chil Mahtab, a women's prison rather than stone her to death. Many days pass and Zeba is still in shock. Slowly, she begins to find her bearings and begins to accept that this was going to be her life. Not just prison, but soon to be sentenced to death. She is coaxed by other inmates to spend the rest of her days getting to know them rather than suffering alone or in silence. 

Zeba is made aware of the various reasons the other women have been brought to prison. With time, Zeba gets acquainted with her cell mates. Soon the women out there get to know that Zeba's mother, Gulnaaz had the power of magic in her hands. She was a jadugar. A sorceress. These women start relying on Zeba and her mother to find some way or the other to find freedom, justice, or pray for the doom of the person/people who had sent them to prison. In the last few days of her life and jail time, Zeba finds rewarding relationships in her cell mates than the ones she was been born into.  

In the meantime, Zeba's brother has appointed Yusef to fight Zeba's case. Zeba refuses to divulge the reason behind the killing of her husband. He is so annoyed by her stubborn silence and demeanor. Why did she kill her husband? Was it on purpose? Was Kamaal at fault? Yusef decides to get to the bottom of the story. Does he figure out the truth? Does Zeba finally open her mouth and provide answers that Yusuf or Gulnaaz or her cell mates are seeking? Is Yusuf able to bring justice to women like Zeba, who are thrown into prison in the name of honour or respect? Would Yusuf truly live up to his job and learning of so many years that he was going to defend people who could not defend themselves? For that, you would need to read or listen to Zeba's story. 

It took me many tries to understanding this story in the initial chapters. I had to listen to the first few chapters a couple of times to catch the plot. I was probably still getting used to audiobook format of "reading". Nadia Hashimi tried to bring in the concept of human rights in the beginning of the book., which somehow got lost in the end. Maybe it was Gulnaaz's sorcery that influenced the situation. The author could have ended the book with shorter chapters. Overall it is a nice book. Once again, this book is quite the window into the lives of Afghani women and the world they live in - torturous and unforgiving. It is shockingly sad that it is the women who are the ultimate owners of so called family prestige and honour. If men go wayward or lose track of family life then it's the wife to blame who could not keep him happy and satisfied at home. If he was successful, it was only his credit to take. The very attitude is stifling and truly one would find more freedom behind the bars than outside it. 

"Time passes differently through a woman’s body. We are haunted by all the hours of yesterday and teased by a few moments of tomorrow. That is how we live—torn between what has already happened and what is yet to come."