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Summary of The Pearl That Broke Its Shell: by Nadia Hashimi | Includes Analysis
Summary of The Pearl That Broke Its Shell by Nadia Hashimi - Includes & Analysis
Preview
The Pearl That Broke Its Shell by Afghan American novelist Nadia Hashimi tells an intergenerational story of two Afghan women whose lives are different but connected. Rahima, a teenage girl, lives in twenty-first-century Afghanistan. In the wake of Taliban rule, Afghanistan's government is divided and the culture is fractured. Shekiba, Rahima's great-great-grandmother, lives in early twentieth-century Afghanistan, under a monarchy. The plot moves back and forth between the two characters, chronicling their lives and the obstacles they face under oppressive patriarchal regimes.
Rahima lives in a small village with her parents, her older sisters Shahla and Parwin, the latter born with a bad hip and a limp, and her younger sisters Rohila and Sitara. Her aunt, Khala Shaima, visits often, helps take care of the family, and tells the girls stories about their great-great-grandmother Shekiba. Rahima's...
PLEASE This is summary and analysis of the book and NOT the original book.
Inside this Instaread Summary of The Pearl That Broke Its
Summary of the Book
Important People
Character Analysis
Analysis of the Themes and Author's Style
About the Author
With Instaread, you can get the key takeaways, summary and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, identify the key takeaways and analyze them for your convenience.
Preview
The Pearl That Broke Its Shell by Afghan American novelist Nadia Hashimi tells an intergenerational story of two Afghan women whose lives are different but connected. Rahima, a teenage girl, lives in twenty-first-century Afghanistan. In the wake of Taliban rule, Afghanistan's government is divided and the culture is fractured. Shekiba, Rahima's great-great-grandmother, lives in early twentieth-century Afghanistan, under a monarchy. The plot moves back and forth between the two characters, chronicling their lives and the obstacles they face under oppressive patriarchal regimes.
Rahima lives in a small village with her parents, her older sisters Shahla and Parwin, the latter born with a bad hip and a limp, and her younger sisters Rohila and Sitara. Her aunt, Khala Shaima, visits often, helps take care of the family, and tells the girls stories about their great-great-grandmother Shekiba. Rahima's...
PLEASE This is summary and analysis of the book and NOT the original book.
Inside this Instaread Summary of The Pearl That Broke Its
Summary of the Book
Important People
Character Analysis
Analysis of the Themes and Author's Style
About the Author
With Instaread, you can get the key takeaways, summary and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, identify the key takeaways and analyze them for your convenience.
25 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 31, 2016
4 people are currently reading
50 people want to read
About the author
Instaread Summaries
926 books292 followersWith Instaread, you can get the summary and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, summarize and analyze it for your convenience.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 26, 2022
Yes, I Cheated
Review of the Instaread Summaries Kindle eBook (2016)
This is the first time that I've used one of the Instaread summaries in order to get an overview of a book that I'm reading. I am about halfway through The Pearl That Broke Its Shell (2015) [480 pages] but as I'm reading it for a bookclub in early November 2022 it is likely that I won't finish it in time for the discussion. So just in case, I took this cheater's route. The summary was actually quite excellent and the listing of characters & the discussion of themes were also well done.
Part of the reason for my slow progress through The Pearl... is that it is often grim reading about the treatment of women in Afghanistan. It toggles between two stories, that of Rahimi in 2007 who lives in a community under a warlord who is fighting the Taliban and that of her great-great-grandmother Shekiba who lived in the early 20th century during the time when Afghanistan was ruled by a King (or Amir). Both women do have times of relative freedom allowed them through custom.
The young Rahimi is allowed to assume the character of a pasha boch, where a girl child is allowed to act as if she is a boy in a family which otherwise has no sons. This ends as she enters puberty though and is sold off as a child bride. The young Shekiba was disfigured in a childhood accident and lost her immediate family in a cholera epidemic. She becomes a servant in the compound of her extended family but is gifted away in payment of a debt and then again gifted to the King. She then becomes a guard to the King's harem and is allowed to dress in masculine clothes for the role, as the King doesn't trust male guards. This relief is short-lived as both face various abuses and intrigues in their stories.
When I learned that the King/Amir Habibullah Khan (1872-1919) in the novel was based on a real-life figure it made me curious to google information about him. Aside from the Wikipedia entry, I came across this photograph:
Amir (King) Habibullah Khan and his wives, circa 1900s or 1910s. Image sourced from Reddit.
Knowing the ending of the book does at least let me know that both stories end on a relative note of hope. Admittedly the current situation in a newly Taliban run Afghanistan still makes for a depressing awareness that conditions have likely become even worse in the present day.
Review of the Instaread Summaries Kindle eBook (2016)
This is the first time that I've used one of the Instaread summaries in order to get an overview of a book that I'm reading. I am about halfway through The Pearl That Broke Its Shell (2015) [480 pages] but as I'm reading it for a bookclub in early November 2022 it is likely that I won't finish it in time for the discussion. So just in case, I took this cheater's route. The summary was actually quite excellent and the listing of characters & the discussion of themes were also well done.
Part of the reason for my slow progress through The Pearl... is that it is often grim reading about the treatment of women in Afghanistan. It toggles between two stories, that of Rahimi in 2007 who lives in a community under a warlord who is fighting the Taliban and that of her great-great-grandmother Shekiba who lived in the early 20th century during the time when Afghanistan was ruled by a King (or Amir). Both women do have times of relative freedom allowed them through custom.
The young Rahimi is allowed to assume the character of a pasha boch, where a girl child is allowed to act as if she is a boy in a family which otherwise has no sons. This ends as she enters puberty though and is sold off as a child bride. The young Shekiba was disfigured in a childhood accident and lost her immediate family in a cholera epidemic. She becomes a servant in the compound of her extended family but is gifted away in payment of a debt and then again gifted to the King. She then becomes a guard to the King's harem and is allowed to dress in masculine clothes for the role, as the King doesn't trust male guards. This relief is short-lived as both face various abuses and intrigues in their stories.
When I learned that the King/Amir Habibullah Khan (1872-1919) in the novel was based on a real-life figure it made me curious to google information about him. Aside from the Wikipedia entry, I came across this photograph:
Amir (King) Habibullah Khan and his wives, circa 1900s or 1910s. Image sourced from Reddit.
Knowing the ending of the book does at least let me know that both stories end on a relative note of hope. Admittedly the current situation in a newly Taliban run Afghanistan still makes for a depressing awareness that conditions have likely become even worse in the present day.
February 4, 2021
Well read the whole book... here it just sez summary. Interesting read. Watched a documentary 2 years ago about a bacha posh and life in Afghanistan. A sad reality.
April 7, 2016
Afghan-American novelist Nadia Hashimi’s The Pearl That Broke its Shell is a story of two Afghan women, separated by generations, but living similar lives, as they face the harsh reality of the feudal, male-dominated system that was and is Afghanistan. The story of Rahima, a young woman who fights to find her destiny in contemporary Afghanistan is set against the story of her great-great-grandmother, who faced similar challenges during the period immediately after the country was granted independence from Britain.
Summary of The Pearl That Broke its Shell by Nadia Hashimi by Instaread is a comprehensive examination of this novel, with an analysis of the main characters, their relationships, and the milieu that has set barriers to the self-actualization of Afghan women for generations. A great resource for any busy reader who would like to preview a book before buying, Instaread summaries are worthwhile investments.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review.
Summary of The Pearl That Broke its Shell by Nadia Hashimi by Instaread is a comprehensive examination of this novel, with an analysis of the main characters, their relationships, and the milieu that has set barriers to the self-actualization of Afghan women for generations. A great resource for any busy reader who would like to preview a book before buying, Instaread summaries are worthwhile investments.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review.
December 7, 2016
Difficult story about the life and reality of the Afghan women, beautifully told. The only concern i have is that the author does not actually come from that society (Nadia Hashimi of Afghan origin was born and raised in USA). However i believe the 'american style' of storytelling helps to better consume a very difficult topic..
March 22, 2018
This is two stories. One about current times and one from long ago. The two are interspersed and listening to the audio book, if get confused as to whose story was which. (They would say whose it was but with audio, it's easy to get distracted. )
I loved the eventual outcome!
I loved the eventual outcome!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews