Book Review : This House of Clay and Water by Faiqa Mansab

I still remember the movie 'Dor' by Nagesh Kukunoor and the tears it brought to my eyes when the movie ended. The basic premise of the movie revolved around 3 characters - a widow whose husband was killed by his friend, The friend's wife who has come down to meet the widow for mercy appeal and a thief. If you haven't watched the movie, I would surely recommend you guys to watch it for the brilliance that Nagesh Kukunoor has brought on screen.

Faiqa Mansab's 'This House Under Clay and Water' also revolves around 3 protagonist, 2 of whom are women and the third - a transgender / Hijra as the book says. This was one of the main reason that made me pick this book. The basic premise did kind of remind me of the movie Dor and I was quite intrigued on how the book was different. I was so wrong.

Nida, wife of a politician who is unhappy with her life after she lost her baby befriends Sasha, who fulfills her materialistic desires by sleeping outside her marriage for money. Sasha is blessed with two girls Alina and Zoya. On one side, Alina is the blessed kid who is showered with all the love whereas Zoya is the neglected one. Nida and Sasha befriends each other at a Dargah where our third protagonist Bhanggi serves as a Qalandar.

As the book talks about the Forbidden Love in Pakistan, Nida slowly starts feeling peace when she is around Bhanggi and there is an unspoken connect between the two characters.As the book progresses, we see how the lives of the characters entangles with one another and how the characters deal with them.

The book is written beautifully and at many points in the book, it turns into such a page turner that you may even lose your sleep trying to find out what happens next. One gets easily connected to the protagonist and the emotions they deal with. Lahore, the city where the story is based is so beautifully described throughout that it almost becomes a character in itself.

However, the book starts dragging as it reaches its climax. There are huge gaps within the timeline of the characters and it adds to the confusion on how long is the timeline of the book. Also, since the story is written in different perspectives of the characters, one would expect a change in tone of language of the book. Unfortunately, this doesn't happen unless the story is continued in the form of Bhanggi.

I would still recommend one to read the book. One should not expect it to be a masterpiece such as Dor but the book has its own little charm that one cannot tend to ignore even after the put down the book. Also, the cover of the book is artistically quite beautiful and that gives it a brownie point.

Rating - 🌟🌟🌟 out of 5