Book Review : The Fall and Rise of the Amir Sisters*

We were recently sent Nadiya Hussain’s second novel titled, The Fall and Rise of the Amir Sisters by Harper Collins to review on our blog. If you are wondering…yes this is the same Nadiya Hussain who captured the hearts of many people as she won the sixth series of BBC’s Great British Bake Off Show in 2015.  I can proudly say that I  am a big fan of Bakeoff and was one of the 15 million people watching the final show with excitement as her name was called.  Fast forward to 2019 and Nadiya is now a household name in Britain, she has to date released two cookbooks titled Nadiya’s Kitchen and Bake me a Story as well as hosted numerous shows on BBC.  I was surprised when I heard that she released her first fiction novel last year titled The Secret Lives of the Amir Sisters.  The book had received mixed reviews, with some loving the book while others still not grasping it but one thing is for sure, it did give her readers the opportunity to learn more on how a Muslim Bangladeshi family lived and perceived life. Now her second book, which she has co-written with Ayisha Malik delves deeper into various family issues yet keeping it very current. The copy of Fall and Rise of the Amir Sisters arrived just days before my family was to embark on our holiday to Malaysia, hence the book was packed into my hand luggage and accompanied me on an adventurous holiday to Asia. Read on to find out more about the book and what I thought about it.

What we thought of the book

First of all, I had not read Nadiya’s first book – The Secret Lives of the Amir Sisters (which has been on my book list but I’ve not got around to reading it yet) hence can’t share if this book was a good follow up or better than the first. Reading the Fall and Rise of the Amir Sister as a standalone book was completely fine, I did not feel like I missed out on the first book and as soon as I started reading the book, I picked up the story quickly. In a nutshell, without giving out too much spoilers, this book details about the lives of the four Amir Sisters – Fatima, Farah, Bubblee and Mae, who each have their own quirky characters and outlook on life.  The book shares about how these sisters adapt to daily trials of the modern life amidst coming from a traditional Muslim family.

Although the book mainly concentrates on the twin sisters, Farah and Bubblee, I learnt more about each sister as the chapters went along.  The oldest sister being Fatima who is going through a difficult pregnancy (she is actually their cousin) and Farah who can’t stand the fact that Fatima is having a baby as she is going through a rough patch in her marriage and struggling with conceiving a child.  Bubblee, on the other hand, is dealing with work issues and the lack of inspiration whilst living in London. While Mae, the youngest is preparing to head to university and loves all things social media.

To be honest, I found the first half of the book slow to read as it was not that interesting until I got to the middle part of the book and found I was looking forward to reading the book more as the characters got engaging and I could not wait to find out about what happens next.  The writers did not immediately captivate me with their writing style but I eventually warmed up to it.  I also totally enjoyed learning more insights into a Muslim family living in the UK.  I also loved how she has kept a lot of the facts in the book relatable and current such as including inter-family marriage (which is common amongst Asian families), touching on mental health issues, sexuality and what modern woman think about marriage and settling down as well as religion.  I loved how she has incorporated the views of each of the family member and coupled it with some humour, current teen language and included how they used social media such as whatsapp groups (which is how most families communicate now).  A great effort from Nadiya and I think there is more to come as she left the book on a cliffhanger with me expecting more.

How much is the book and how can you buy it

The paperback copy of the book retails for £7.99 from Harper Collins and you can get a copy for yourself here.

Synopsis – About The Fall and Rise of the Amir Sisters

Heart-warming storytelling with strong themes of sisterhood from nation’s favourite and former Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain, this is Little Women meets Marian Keyes’ Walsh family series for a new generation of readers.  The four Amir Sisters – Fatima, Farah, Bubblee and Mae – are as close as sisters can be but sometimes even those bonds can be pushed to their limits . . .

Becoming a mother has always been Farah’s dream so when older sister Fatima struggles with a tough pregnancy whilst Farah has trouble conceiving she can’t help but be jealous. Until a plan to break a huge cultural taboo in her family, and use a surrogate gives her a renewed hope. But nothing is ever that easy in this warm, witty look at a modern British family.

Details
Title: The Fall and Rise of the Amir Sisters
Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers
ISBN: 978-000-819-2310
Pages: 352

About Nadiya Hussain

Over 14 million people tuned in to see Nadiya win 2015’s Great British Bake Off. Since then she has captured the heart of the nation. A columnist for The Times and Essentials, Nadiya is also a regular reporter for The One Show and presented a two-part series, The Chronicles of Nadiya on BBC One. She is the author Nadiya’s Kitchen (Michael Joseph), Bake me a Story (Hodder) and has been named as one of the top five most influential Asians in the UK.

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* We were given a copy of the book in return for a feature. All opinions are our own.