Monday, March 16, 2015

The Upstairs Wife

I love memoirs, but I am also fascinated by other cultures, which makes The Upstairs Wife a perfect read for me.




Zakaria opens her memoir in 2007 by recalling two events that are forever linked in her mind: the stroke that nearly killed her uncle, Sohail, and prime minister Benazir Bhutto's assassination.  From there Zakaria recalls various points in her family's history beginning with their arrival in Pakistan in 1962.
The memoir moves seamlessly between the history of the Zakaria family and the history of Pakistan, which she also chronicles in detail.

Zakaria's memories of her family and her life made Pakistan come alive. I was engrossed with her family, but also with the country.  The Upstairs Wife is well written, which speaks to her background as an author, and creates a pleasurable reading experience.

I needed a bit to get into The Upstairs Wife, but once I did, enjoyed learning more about the country and the author.


1 comment:

Sridhar Chandrasekaran said...

Interesting. I have become a regular reader of your blog. Thanks for sharing.