Razia by Abda Khan, #Netgalley #review

Many thanks to Netgalley and Unbound for giving me a review copy of Razia in exchange for an honest review. 

Razia by Abda Khan

Genre: suspense

Publisher: Unbound

Publication date: July 11, 2019

Summary

Farah Jilani, a British lawyer of Pakistani heritage, attends a social gathering for one of her firm’s richest clients. Pakistani Zaheer Mansur is posted as the Deputy High Commissioner at the High Commission for Pakistan in London; he and his glamorous, much-younger wife Aneela are the epitome of a traditional wealthy Pakistani couple living abroad. During the evening, Farah stumbles over a shocking scene: the Mansurs verbally abusing their housekeeper. Soon Farah learns the truth: the housekeeper is a slave, a young girl named Razia.

Incensed, Farah later makes contact with Razia and decides to free the girl. But that’s not easy. Zaheer is a powerful man, both in Britain and in Pakistan. Razia’s entire family is in debt to Zaheer’s family and has been for many years. Then, just when it seems that Razia might be safe, Farah learns otherwise. She travels to Pakistan and teams up with a human rights lawyer, Ali, to fight for Razia’s freedom. One thing’s clear: she can’t walk away from this fight unchanged.

My thoughts

At times, I wish I could turn off my internal writing editor. While the book was mostly well-written, there were passages filled with things writers are told are cliched no-no’s. Opening with a description of the weather, for example. Backstory dumps given before we care (or even know) the characters. A long, pointless commute when the character reminisces about the past. The overuse of adverbs. Describing–overdescribing–every character’s physical appearance when that person shows up for the first time. The “rules” of writing are flexible, but break cautiously. My opinion, of course.

Here’s the thing: I seriously doubt the average reader cares about these things.

But I care about these types of details because I’m a writer.  I see how they weaken the story’s power.

It is a powerful story. Here’s why:

Information about trafficking

I requested this book from Netgalley because of my interest and concern about human trafficking. Far too many people are blissfully unaware of what’s happening in plain sight. (People in my area of the Southeast U.S. are shocked to learn that we have a high trafficking rate. Sad.) Khan knows this topic well; she’s a human rights advocate herself.

The depiction of the Pakistani culture’s complexities

The second half of the book, when Farah teams up with Ali in Pakistan, are strong. Khan’s descriptions of Pakistani food are mouth-watering. Ali’s lecture/rant/description of the legal system is strong. The wealthy can escape justice; the poor can’t escape injustice. The truth, reality, ethics: this doesn’t matter. Then Ali adds,

If you happen to be female, then your fate will be even worse. Women are, to put it bluntly, often simply left to rot. (chapter 26)

Yet there is beauty in this culture, too. After a tragedy, poor villagers welcome Farah and Ali with gracious, sacrificial hospitality. In a truly moving section, Farah attends a village funeral and amid the mourning, she awakens to her cultural roots and embraces them for the first time.

Farah and Ali’s relationship

Farah is a bit naive about the realities of the culture and legal system, and Ali has to take swift action to correct many of her impulsive actions. Her perception is skewed; she sees things as a Westerner and acts like one as well. Though well-intended, Farah doesn’t realize that she may make things worse by trying to make things better. She’s unrealistic, though she’d never see herself that way. Ali, on the other hand, understands these realities all too well. It’s great to see them learn to work together.

Overall, this is a good book.

Though I think it could be stronger, I recommend it to anyone interested in the issue of human trafficking.

This review also appears on Riffle and Goodreads. It is also part of a year-long reading challenge to read as many Asian/Asian-descent authors as possible.