Monday, April 23, 2012

Review Day: An Unproductive Woman

It's Review Day again!!!!!!!!!!

Title: An Unproductive Woman
Author: Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

(description from Smashwords)

After ten years of marriage, Asabe and Adam remain childless. Fueled by desperation and a long held secret, Adam marries a second wife. This decision acts as the catalyst to change no one could have predicted. Read An Unproductive Woman to learn what secrets Adam has withheld that would explain his unreasonable longing and pursuit of a son at all costs.(end)

*Some spoilers are included.*

Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali did an incredible job with this novel. The characters drive the plot forward and are definitely the main focus in this novel.  I formed strong opinions of the characters very early on.  Adam is a complete jerk, but makes the story interesting.  Asabe is such a sweet, caring and beautiful woman who just wants to give her husband Adam everything he wants, but when that isn't enough she even helps him with his other wives.  Asabe tries everything to keep her husbands attention, but he always falters and acts like a child.  Adam...he's very frustrating - all he cared about was having a son because he gave up the only son he already had.  Asabe had the patience of a saint to put up with Adam for sure.  Khaalidah wrote both of these characters as if they truly were soul mates! d'awwww....


This novel is like looking into the still-practiced religions that believe in polygamy, rely heavily on having a son, and the various marriage ceremonies/practices that come with them.  Khaalidah really developed each character to the fullest - you can really see these characters coming to life.  I felt bad for the characters, wanted to strangle and knock some sense into other characters, and sniffled away tears a few times.  Khaalidah showed the perspective of each character beautifully and flawlessly.  She shows you exactly what Adam, Asabe, the wives, their extended family, friends, neighbors, etc feel about everything that happens.  It's an incredible novel, and a must read for anyone who enjoys looking into different religions, romance, marriage, or simply what happens when you're obsesssed with having a certain gender of a child.


Why 4 stars?  Although I absolutely fell in love with this novel, I also fell out of love with it just as easily.  It's somewhat forgettable once you're finished with it.  Some of the chapters had too much detail that brought the chapters from exciting to too long.

Purchase a copy of An Unproductive Woman on Smashwords or Amazon for only $2.99 (Kindle edition).

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