It's snowing outside right now, despite the fact that we're supposed to be in Spring by now, being mid-April and all. So it's the perfect time to get down my thoughts on the sequel to Sofia Khan Is Not Obliged. I guess this novel makes it to the top of the list in terms of the most contemporary/ newest book I've read. So just to get the facts and figures out of the way, the novel is a generous 448 pages long and was published in 2017 by Zaffre, Again, I downloaded the Kindle edition, which was significantly cheaper than the hardcopy and some other e-book editions apparently. A thank you to whoever sorted that out!
While I loved the first book and was slightly scared that the sequel wouldn't be able to live up to the high standard, I have to say it wasn't a disappointment but rather an impressive feat. I wouldn't say this is better than Malik's first book, but rather she took advantage of the circumstances and changed the tone. That's not to say that this novel wasn't funny and relatable but it was generally a lot more serious and the tone reflected this. I felt there was a constant worry, threat or concern pervading the novel's plot line, and the "cause for concern" changes enough for the novel to remain dynamic and engaging. Sofia also has a lot on her plate and so she is under pressure, which allows her character to develop further and she can ask herself some serious questions.
What I love about both of Malik's novels are that they are so rich and full of brave and important issues. Some of the ones that come to mind for this novel include the challenges relating to interracial marriages and conversion, apostasy, homosexuality, adoption, separation, racism, culture conflicts, fundamentalism, white privilege, betrayal, heartbreak, resilience, forgiveness, sexism, misogyny, dealing with emotional baggage, sacrifice, challenges relating to major illness and parenting. These themes are linked to various characters and sometimes multiple characters at a time. The characters remain varied and authentic so I feel Malik does make the most of the community she has created by raising as many issues as she can that ought to be addressed in reality.
I don't want to spoil the novel for anyone who may want to read it because many of the events are probably better experienced by "first-hand" reading. But I must admit that I cried a lot in this novel, a lot more than in the first. I may have felt more personally involved in the novel since I am in a Muslim interracial marriage myself so it was quite interesting to see how Malik went about exploring this relationship. She captures the light-hearted humour as well as digs up some serious issues such as women facing a lack of respect by men in the Asian community generally and also a secret desire for people to see an interracial love marriage fail, or even a love marriage for that matter. They are slightly troubling attitudes in the Asian community but they definitely do exist.
I have to say that I wasn't happy with the ending but after some calm reflection, having cried so much during and after the novel, I realised that I wasn't happy with the ending because I would have acted differently. So this made me re-evaluate my character more and so it took me into a phase of introspection and reflection. I had to respect that Sofia was justified in making her decisions based on a different set of values and priorities to me, as everyone is different and we face and deal with challenges differently, and those differences ought to be respected.
To conclude my thoughts on the matter, I have to say it was an impressive and brave sequel with a lot of drama and emotion. It still makes me emotional thinking about certain scenes and turns of phrase in the novel. An important thing that this novel made me think about was the question of what can a person accept or forgive or live with, as well as the negatives to those thoughts. To each his own limits and strength of character. I hope to study these novels in a bit more detail in a post-colonial context because they are really quite fitting. Thank you and again, well done to Ayisha Malik!
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