Book info

• Title The Secret Lives of the Amir Sisters
• Author Nadiya Hussain
• Year 2017
• Genre Contemporary

The four Amir sisters – Fatima, Farah, Bubblee and Mae – are the only young Muslims in the quaint English village of Wyvernage. On the outside, despite not quite fitting in with their neighbours, the Amirs are happy. But on the inside, each sister is secretly struggling. Fatima is trying to find out who she really is – and after fifteen attempts, finally pass her driving test. Farah is happy being a wife but longs to be a mother. Bubblee is determined to be an artist in London, away from family tradition, and Mae is coping with burgeoning Youtube stardom. Yet when family tragedy strikes, it brings the Amir sisters closer together and forces them to learn more about life, love, faith and each other than they ever thought possible.

Thoughts

I love Nadiya so was interested to read her foray into novel writing. This tells the story of a large family with lots of issues at a particularly turbulent time in their lives. I thought it was a charming story, whilst perhaps not the smoothest writing in the world, but still the kind of story that sucks you in from the first moment - I had to know what happened.

I think it suffered a little from having so many protagonists, I would have liked to spend more time with each of the girls, so perhaps having just one or two telling the story would have been good, but equally it was fun dipping in and out of the family and seeing the events from different perspectives.

It’s certainly interesting to read about different cultures and family dynamics, particularly in a rapidly changing world. Seeing how different people and different generations deal with things is also fascinating. Overall, I enjoyed it.

Rating: 3 / 5