Book Review – Home Fire by Kasmila Shamsie

“Home Fire” by Kamila Shamsie – 8

Reviewed by Steve Reilly

This book is a classic example of why it’s so good to be in a book group. In my head I have divided this book roughly into four parts. Part way through the first part, if I had simply selected this book myself, I would have thrown it over my left shoulder and screamed at the wall, “More Muslim propaganda.” However, because it’s a book group book I felt duty-bound to press on. And I was rewarded. I changed from doing a ‘Tony’ and giving it ‘1 for the binding’ to an 8. I would have liked to have seen somehow, I don’t know how, the third part at the beginning of the book because this is where it really got intense and turned into a page turner that I looked forward to getting back to (one of my tests of a good read).

As a literary exercise in relationships between individuals with different views and ‘inner workings’ I think it worked very well.

There were characters in this story deep in what’s called the Hermit phase: As described by Kundalini Diaries the hermit phase is made up of a time in life where it can feel like everything in our life is falling apart, we can lose relationships, jobs, and what feels like most of the things we once loved and knew so well. It is a phase that can feel terrifying, scary, and utterly confusing.

I think Kamila is a good writer with the ability to describe minute nuances of inter-character relationships and communications.

So, by the time I got to the last page this book I had done a total 180.