Title: The Garnet Bunches
Author: Zeynab Salimova
Publisher: XlibrisUS
Pages: 306
ISBN: 9781543441932
Genre: Fiction
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Pacific Book Review Star
Awarded to Books of Excellent Merit
In The Garnet Bunches, author Zeynab Salimova weaves together several stories to paint a vivid picture of life in Azerbaijan. She tells a parallel romantic tales alongside harrowing stories of betrayal and social injustice. In addition, Ms. Salimova includes historical asides which educate readers about Azerbaijan’s rich cultural heritage.
The book opens by introducing Rustam and Hasan; two close but strikingly different friends who live in Azerbaijan shortly after the turn of the twentieth century. Handsome Rustam marries beautiful Maryam in an arranged match which soon turns into a loving relationship. Meanwhile, Hasan drifts into dangerous political territory. The story moves to America after the turn of the twenty-first century. Tural and Gunel live in the States with their children. They have emigrated from Azerbaijan and appear to be a happy, middle-class family. However, as the book progresses, it becomes apparent the couple and their family have withstood a litany of hardships. The tale returns to Azerbaijan and the early years of Tural and Gunel’s marriage. During the book’s first half, the author tells Rustam and Maryam’s story and Tural and Gunel’s story in ways that illustrate the similarities as well as the dissimilarities between the two relationships in which I found these observations very interesting. Additionally, Ms. Salimova provides historical context for the ways Azerbaijan has changed, particularly in the way it has allowed freedoms for women that many Muslim nations do not. Midway through the narrative, the story begins to revolve around problems within Tural and Gunel’s marriage as well as the long battle to free Tural after he is imprisoned unjustly.
Ms. Salimova pulls together divergent stories to create a detailed portrait of a country with which many readers will be unfamiliar. The book’s characters are multi-dimensional. Despite being joined in an arranged marriage, Rustam and Maryam forge a deep love. Modern couple Tural and Gunel choose each other as marriage partners, and their union faces the problems many modern couples face: in-laws, infidelity and loss of romantic interest as children arrive. Tural and Gunel’s problems are exacerbated when Tural is sent to prison on trumped-up charges. Gunel finds herself and her love for Tural tested again and again. Many readers will see their own relationships mirrored in the ups and downs of Tural and Gunel’s marriage, despite much of the story being set in a faraway land. Throughout the book, Ms. Salimova’s love for her now abandoned homeland shines through the text. She may be disappointed by Azerbaijan’s legal system, but she is never less than proud of her country, its people and its heritage.
The Garnet Bunches offers insights into a country and a way of life which remain unknown to most readers. However, the book’s stories of romance, betrayal and social injustice are universal, as is the story of leaving an old life behind to embrace a new one. Readers of The Garnet Bunches will discover a land and a culture with rich traditions, while recognizing characters with whom they have much in common. I highly recommend “The Garnet Bunches” for a refreshingly wonderful read!
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