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A Place for Us

Family Matters

By Taha Kehar | April 2021

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Any critical discussion on Fatima Farheen Mirza’s debut novel A Place for Us is indissolubly chained to an intense curiosity about the celebrity imprint that published the book. SJP for Hogarth is a literary imprint within the Crown Publishing Group that is run by American actor and producer Sarah Jessica Parker. Conventional wisdom would have us believe that an imprint whose editorial director enjoys celebrity status would prioritize well-known authors and overlook debut writing. However, SJP for Hogarth appears to be combating these stereotypical notions through its choice of titles.

With its decision to select Indian-American Muslim Mirza’s narrative as its maiden venture, SJP Hogarth has shown its commitment to spotlighting marginalized literary voices. The novel - which was originally published in 2018 - serves as a counter to the politics of a post-truth world at a time when a ‘Muslim ban’ was imposed in the US. As a result, A Place for Us should be viewed as a literary offering that dares to tread off the beaten path and unearth sizzling truths about a misunderstood community.

Mirza’s first novel opens a vista onto an Indian family that is preparing for a wedding. The presence of the bride’s brother - a prodigal child who has returned home after a long interlude - invites conflicting emotions. As the narrative unfolds, Mirza peels back the layers of mystery and examines how past events shaped and distorted the family’s internal dynamics.

At its core, the novel is an immigrant tale that brings to the fore the challenges and idiosyncrasies of an Indian-American family. A Place for Us acts as a literary counterpart to Jhumpa Lahiri’s novels and short stories, which have explored the subtle nuances of the immigrant experience for the Indian community. Mirza, like Lahiri, portrays characters who must skillfully negotiate their separate cultural identities in their effort to survive in their adopted land. At times, their allegiance to one culture conflicts with the other and results in both rebellion and conformity. Unlike Lahiri, Mirza explores an additional challenge that assails her - the lives of her characters: the stigma associated with their Muslim identity in a Western context.

These concerns are tackled with subtlety and the author resists the temptation to use political polemics as a crutch to propel the novel towards its conclusion. From the outset, the novel comes through as a gripping saga of a family that is equally impacted by the joys of kinship as they are by the weight of the secrets they keep from each other.

The balancing act between family values and personal ambitions has been presented with sensitivity. The novel explores the difficulties children face in maintaining a dual identity that can allow them to remain at ease in their public and private spheres. When the toxic realities of the public sphere eventually seep into the characters’ private idyll, they are drawn into a web of complex circumstances. The challenges that emerge are depicted in a convincing manner rather than through an exaggerated view of reality. The author steers clear of sensationalizing the plight of Muslims in the US and instead focuses on telling a gripping story.

A Place for Us is certainly no prisoner to a linear narrative. More often than not, readers find it difficult to immerse themselves in novels that veer away from a linear trajectory. Mirza’s debut may confound readers further with its frequent shifts in narrative perspectives. If these techniques had not been executed with care, many readers would have taken a different view of the novel. But the shifting perspectives add depth to the characters and allow readers the opportunity to examine how different members of the family are impacted by the events of the novel. Buoyed by Mirza’s deceptively simple style and unsparing eye for detail, A Place for Us offers a moving tale of an American family that is shattered by conflicts, rebellion and the individual desire to be different. The novel was billed as the ‘best book’ of 2018 by Washington Post, NPR, People Magazine and other media outlets. Readers who decide to pick it up in 2021 will not be disappointed by its deft characterization and compelling art of storytelling.

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