But Rahima is not the first in her family to adopt this unusual custom. A century earlier, her great-great-grandmother Shekiba, left orphaned by an epidemic, saved herself and built a new life in the same way—the change took her on a journey from the deprivation of life in a rural village to the opulence of a king's palace in the bustling metropolis of Kabul. I was not impressed by the writing and the dialog did not seem to add anything to the story. It could have been an ok read, maybe more, but I did not have the patience. I can read a book where the writing does not appeal to me if the plot is addictive but it was not the case here. For Rahima, life with her new husband --- a warlord infamous throughout the region --- is anything but comfortable. Though she’s surrounded by opulence, her duties as his fourth wife resemble those of a baby machine and slave. She soon bears him a son, but to a limited reprieve, and it’s all Rahima can do make it through the day and avoid punishment, especially after Parwin sets herself on fire in protest. The Pearl That Broke Its Shell," tells the story of a young girl in present day, Rahima. As she goes through various hardships, her Khala (aunt) Shaima tells Rahima the story of her great-great-grandmother, whose story bears resemblance to Rahima's. In the novel, Rahima's story is told in the present day; Shekiba's story is told as it happened in the late 1890s and early 1900s. Since the girls' stories are told concurrently, in this study guide, both stories are discussed in the present tense.

As Rahima, Parwin, and Shahla prepare for their nikkah, which is their wedding day, Khala Shaima tells the girls of their great-great grandmother Shekiba. She is a young girl about Rahima's age when Khala Shaima starts the story, which is thirteen years old. As a two-year-old, half of Shekiba's face melted when hot oil fell onto her face, thus deforming her for the rest of her life. Though Shekiba is accepted by her family, she is rejected and shamed by everyone else, strangers and extended family alike. Shekiba is the victim of a society where women are judged almost exclusively on their worth as wives and mothers of sons and she was discriminated alongside her crippled father. “The clan did not want to be associated with them and the village had no interest in a scarred old man or his even more scarred daughter-son” (Hashimi 17). Rahib, on the other hand, suffered the fate of being married off at a young age. These characters are gradually developping as the plot progresses so the reader can appreciate the similarity of their struggles and empathize with each as she tries to hang on to the freedom that men take for granted. Themes It is up to you to find a way to make things easier for yourself,” Shekiba’s aunt tells her. How do the different women characters in this novel find ways to make things easier for themselves? What about Rahima’s mother? Bobo Shagul? Abdul Khaliq’s wives? The women of the king’s harem? Rahima and her sisters are devastated, but without a brother they have no one to chaperone them, no one to protect their honor, no one to discourage insults from other men. Rahima’s aunt has an idea and begins telling her stories about her great-aunt Shekiba, who was viciously taunted after her face was scarred by an accident with cooking oil. When her immediate family died of cholera, Shekiba was left to the mercy of her scheming relatives, who practically enslaved her and then traded her away to serve another family. Desperate for a measure of freedom, she seized upon the cultural practice of bacha posh, which enabled any family without a son to dress a daughter as a boy. Of course, even a bacha posh must return to being a girl once she reaches maturity. Nonetheless, Shekiba’s tale inspires Rahima to pass as a boy, too. Cutting her hair and donning pants lets her barter at the market, attend classes and play soccer with the boys. Everyone accepts her new position as a son. Even her parents exempt her from certain household duties better left to girls. Unfortunately, Rahima’s opium-addicted father is indebted to a warlord, who has taken an interest in the 13-year-old. After having tasted freedom as a bacha posh, how can she return to the oppression inflicted upon women? Does Shekiba’s story offer any answer? Hashimi’s debut novel nimbly alternates between Shekiba’s and Rahima’s tales, drawing disturbing parallels between two women separated by a century. This is the story of Rahima and Shekiba. Rahima is our main storyteller, who became a child bride at the age of thirteen, and, together with her two older sisters, Shahla and Parwin, were sold into marriage by their father on the same day. Her life would be riddled with everything an Afghani woman could encounter as part of the cultural practices in their families. The picturesque prose would relate a story of fear, oppression, abuse, love, hope and freedom. Her aunt, Khala Shaima, crippled and man-less, became her mainstay with the ongoing narrative she told her nieces about their great-great-great grandmother, Shekiba, who worked as a girl-man guard to the king's harem a century earlier.Debut Afghan-American author Nadia Hashimi’s THE PEARL THAT BROKE ITS SHELL, the entwined stories of two Afghan women separated by a century who find freedom in the tradition of bacha posh, which allows girls to dress and live as boys…until they are of marriageable age. Forced marriages of very young girls,domestic violence,a warlord and the happenings in a king's harem make for a compelling mix. I haven't found a book by Nadia Hashimi that I haven't liked. Maybe it is because I have a preference or fondness toward fiction set in the Middle East or maybe it is because Nadia Hashimi woos me in such a way with her writing, that it is impossible for me to put a book by her down. When Shekiba visits the king, she realizes that Ghafoor has blamed on Shekiba the entire situation of the mystery man, meaning that Shekiba is given the same punishment as Benafsha, which is imprisonment and then being stoned to death. Shekiba is angry; Benafsha is resigned. Jahangir is not allowed to accompany her to Kabul, so Jameela watches him. Rahima misses him greatly, but also enjoys her time in Kabul. She helps Badriya read, vote, and fill out documents. Rahima also attends a resource center meant for women of the parliament so they might improve their reading, writing, computer, and English skills.

Still, it’s hard not to be inspired by the image we are left with at the end of the novel as Her Majesty Queen Soraya Tarzi, newly appointed education minister, lifts off her chador and says, “Do you think, however, that our nation from the outset needs only men to serve it? Women should also take their part as women did in the early years of our nation and Islam. From their examples we must learn that we must all contribute toward the development of our nation and this cannot be done without being equipped with knowledge.”Rahima says of her sister Parwin: “In some ways, I think she was the bravest of all. She, my meek and timid sister, was the one who acted in the end. She was the one who showed those around her that she’d had enough of their abuse. As Khala Shaima said, everyone needed a way to escape.” Do you agree? Their only hope lies in the ancient custom of bacha posh, which allows young Rahima to dress and be treated as a boy until she is of marriageable age. As a son, she can attend school, go to the market, and chaperone her older sisters.

Rahima bears a son, whom she names Jahangir. The fact that he is a boy keeps Abdul Khaliq's beatings to a minimum, however they are not absent. Rahima believes Abdul Khaliq cares special for Jahangir, since she sees Abdul Khaliq having special moments with Jahangir that he does not seem to have with his other sons. On October 4, 2017, Maryland political reporter Ryan Miner of A Miner Detail blog had an off-the-record conversation with Hashimi and said that soon she may officially declare her candidacy for Maryland's 6th congressional district. [9] During the evening of October 8, Hashimi posted her first campaign advertisement on Facebook, officially declaring her candidacy. She then hosted a Facebook Live forum to explain her policies in detail and take questions from viewers. [10]The premise of this book intrigued me from the start: what happens to girls whose families participate in the ancient, long-accepted tradition, *bacha posh*, in which a daughter dresses and lives as a boy before puberty? What freedoms does a girl have when she changes her identity to behave as a boy and act as a man in a man’s world? Miner, Ryan (2017-10-04). "Some very brief thoughts on Dr. Nadia Hashimi". A Miner Detail . Retrieved 2017-10-28. In Kabul, 2007, with a drug-addicted father and no brothers, Rahima and her sisters can only sporadically attend school, and can rarely leave the house. The Pearl That Broke Its Shell is a truly riveting account that highlights the struggles and oppression that Afghani women have suffered for centuries. The novel brilliantly presents the life of Rahima, a modern Afghani girl, interwoven with the life of her great-great-grandmother, Shekiba, a century earlier.

In The Pearl That Broke Its Shell there are two alternating story lines. Usually when I'm presented with a book written in such a way, I prefer one story to the other. Not this time. Both stories were equally mesmerizing and moving. Three Afghan sisters walk home from school, menaced by a boy on a bicycle. They escape, but the damage is done: no more school. Rahima is occasionally allowed to visit her sister Parwin, whom she notices seems unhappy. Khala Shaima is allowed to visit from time to time, which is how Rahima continues to hear Shekiba's story. The girls are not able to visit Shahla, since she lives much farther away. One day after Rahima thinks of visiting Parwin but puts it off due to her house duties, she finds out that Parwin has set herself on fire and died at the hospital.Despite my interest in this story and its message, as well as my appreciation of the storyline itself, I have to admit to feeling distanced from the two main characters Shekiba and Rahima. I think this was largely due to the expository style of the writing (so many portions of the story would have played out well as scenes – and would really have created empathy between reader and character). Even so, the story is what kept me reading. Despite not being as close as I’d hoped with the characters, as a woman, I could empathize with the main characters, root for them, and care about them enough to be concerned bout their fates.