This is a review of the advanced copy “Saffron Dreams” by Shaila Abdullah for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

Saffron Dreams is a novel that depicts our ever-evolving identities and the events and places that form them.

It reminds us that within the inside of tragedy, our dreams become an enduring inheritance.

Arissa Illahi, a Muslim artist, and author, discovers in a very single moment that no matter how fastidiously you try to map your life, it is life itself that chooses your destiny.

Shaila Abdullah’s “Saffron Dreams” is comprised of both of that. It is simple but at the same time it exhibits pain and suffering. Her writing is mesmerizing. It beautifully depicts the struggles of a 9/11 widow and being a Muslim.

The words feel like they are flying off the pages and are floating into one’s consciousness.

This reviewer gave the book 4 out of 5 stars. ( )

I had not intended to read this book for A More Diverse Universe, but when I was browsing my shelves the other evening--just because, as I often do--I pulled Saffron Dreams out and decided the timing could not be more perfect, both for A More Diverse Universe, but also because of the recent anniversary of September 11, 2001, a day that needs little explanation at this time in our history.

Saffron Dreams is fiction, but it felt so real as I was reading it. It is the story of Arissa Illahi, a Pakistani woman who was living in New York City at the time the World Trade Center was brought down by terrorists. She was barely awake when her husband left for work that morning. She had no idea she would never see him again.

Arissa and her husband were Muslim, having married in their home country and moving to the U.S. to start a new life. They were expecting their first child. The loss of her husband devastated Arissa, not surprisingly so.

Shaila Abdullah paints a picture with words that is extremely visceral. The grief and anger and loneliness left by the death of Arissa's husband made my heart ache. Arissa wanted to hold onto his memory as tightly as she could. It is through her grief and her reminiscing that we get to see how the couple met, how their marriage was arranged, and how they were living their life once married. They had their ups and downs, but they were so in love.

As if the loss of her husband was not enough of a burden to bear, Arissa learns the child she is carrying has birth defects, the extent of she will not know until the child is born. It frightens her, but she knows it is something she must come to terms with.

Arissa is fortunate not to be alone through all of this, even in those moments she feels most alone. Her family surrounds her, working through their own grief and helping her through hers. I felt the love and respect she felt for her parents-in-law. Arissa and her mother, however, are estranged; yet another conflict in Arissa's life she must struggle with.

Saffron Dreams tells the story of how easily life's course can be changed by unexpected events. It is Arissa's story of how she met with one such horrible event and other challenges that forced her to re-evaluate her life and decide what direction to go next. She has to come to terms with what's happened and what is, It isn't easy for her and she makes mistakes, but she is a strong woman even in her weakest most doubtful moments. I admired this about her.

The author captured the cultural and ethnic tensions well during a time when they were quite high (and to some extent, still are). Arissa's decision to wear a veil in public marked her as the enemy in the eyes of some. The veil was a symbol of faith and tradition for Arissa. It was a part of her. She endured threats and nasty looks from people who unfairly judged her. It angered me to see her treated in such a way.

I was not entirely satisfied with one small aspect of the ending, admittedly. I think though that was more my wish for a happier ending on that front than anything else when the reality of it is that the Abdullah's version is probably more true to life--and deserved. I also felt that the flow of the novel changed a little too abruptly just past the mid-way point of the book. It was a place in which a major change in the characters' lives had occurred, and so to some extent that could be expected. It was as if there was a shift in the narrative voice even though the entire book is written in first person, in Arissa's voice. Those were minor things though.

Overall, I found Saffron Dreams to be an emotionally charged novel, one that will stay with me for a long while. I still remember where I was and what I was doing the morning of September 11, 2001, as I am sure many of you do. ( )

There is so much to like about this novel, especially that it is a moving account of grief and personal confusion and growth. I would offer the following points to consider:

(1) I believe there is too much story here, yet not enough development of some very large, compelling ideas. For example, I would have found greater satisfaction if there had been deeper exploration of the loss of husband, the relationship with birth mother, main character's personal growth, the fulfillment of the husband's manuscript, and their relocation to Texas. That in itself would be a complex book. The birth of a child with disabilities and the growth of a new, bicultural life, especially the development of the artwork of the main character (with good explanations of the role of art in Islam and in the west), the differences between New York City and Austin, could form a second book. I feel like there is a lot packed into Saffron Dreams which deserves more development.

(2)Another point to consider is that there may be too much 'I' in this book. It's a very internal work, but I wished to see the protagonist from a viewpoint other than her own. For example, in the ARC, pages 138-139, we learn more about Arissa's art mostly from herself; it seems to be an afterthought that Juhi was an art instructor, yet her character says little about the art and how it relates to Arissa's world. (Arissa says, 'I sometimes forgot that Juhi was an art instructor. We never conversed about art much.' p. 138) If Juhi were more fully developed, with more of her own voice, it could have enriched the aspect of Arissa's art as part of the story. In fact, if more of the characters had been developed and had their own voices, the entire story could have blossomed beyond a single woman's loss, grief, and recovery of life.

I'm in complete awe of Ms. Abdullah's use of English to write her story. She obviously has enormous creative energy and ideas which beg to burst forth, and I hope to see many more books from her. ( )

When reading Saffron Dreams by Shaila Abdullah, I was emotionally moved on several instances. This book is great in many ways. It tells about the ways people have to struggle in life, and the things they have to go through. When reading this book, you will meet a girl named Arissa. When she meets an incredible man and moves from Pakistan to New York with him, things seem pleasant, then the unthinkable happens..

Her husband is killed in the tragic and devastating accident of 9/11. Arissa, being a Muslim living in America at that time, faces many struggles. Many people stereotype against her. They associate her with the terrorists who took down the Twin Towers. When it seems like she has hit rock bottom, even more tragedy strikes. She has been told that her unborn son has serious birth defects and has slim chances of ever living a full life. As her life came tumbling down, she struggled through; all the while, defending her race against the harsh slurs of the American world.
What makes this book so unique is that, instead of being told by a typical American, it is told by an American immigrant. This makes the book more heart-touching because, everyone always considers how the Americans felt during 9/11, but no one really ever considered how the Muslims have felt. It wasn’t just stereotypical white Americans affected by that tragedy and many times people of other nationalities are forgotten. But, people already have a tendency to stereotype, and when people are going through a really hard time, they do and say things that they may not mean.
This book really shows you that everyone has struggles to go through. I doesn’t matter what race or religion you are; you can push through the toughest times in life, and end up okay. Not only does this book tell a great story, but the book is well written and the story has a freat flow. I would suggest this book to anyone who loves to read books with a story that is worthwhile! ( )

Wonderful story of a Pakistani woman who loses her husband in the 9/11 attacks in New York City and is left to raise a disabled child in a world that looks down on her. A brilliant insight into the realistic and possible life of one a woman who was isolated and condemned, unfairly associated with terrorists. ( )