This book is a family saga. It is set in the foothills of the Himalaya mountains. It spans from 1969 through 2022.
Noorjahan has taught her daughter Aisha all about healing. Aisha has an arranged marriage and is forced to abandon her hopes and dreams for a better life by going to college. Life is difficult in Poshkarbal. There is a strong military presence.
This is a sad story. It was hard for me to read it times because of the violence.
Aisha was a very strong woman and endured much. She did it for the love of her family. My heart broke for her.
It is a beautiful written story. In her acknowledgments she states “Thank you to the people of Kashmir who shared their stories with me those in exile, in prison and creating home under occupation “.
A story that needed to be told.

Thank you Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for this advanced readers copy.

From the book jacket; "Call Her Freedom is a lyrical, beautifully written novel about one woman’s love for her family. It is a sprawling investigation into colonialism’s relationship with loss and innocence spanning from 1969 to 2022. It is brimming with the violence of militarism, family secrets, and generational trauma announcing Tara Dorabji as a thrilling new voice in fiction."

Call me biased but I 100% agree. The book is very hard to put down, partly because of the topic and partly because it is a region so close to my heart. Kudos to Tara for lifting up all the struggles the region has faced. The book follows Aisha across her lifespan as she continues to move forward from the horrors she’s endured. This is a story about transgenerational trauma and healing. Trigger warning; rape used as a tool of war, torture and death by suicide.

Thank you #netgalley and #SimonAndSchuster for my ARC Copy. The views are my own.

I don’t even know where to begin… I feel like I have mixed feelings after reading this but at the same time all those feelings are somewhat sad. Sad for the characters and sad for the story, but that means that it was written in a way to pull those emotions which is phenomenal. The story feels tragic all around but the main character proved to be strong and resilient throughout the whole story.

I have mixed feelings about this book. It was mostly tragic with a few good experiences mixed in. I liked that Aisha remained strong despite all of the horrible things that happened to her. My heart ached for the people living in the village of Poshkarbal.

Trigger warnings: murder, suicide, rape and torture.

The epilogue was my favorite part. It provided a hopeful future for Nalja and her family.

I was provided a complimentary copy of the book from Simon and Schuster via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.