Title: Hellfire
Author: Leesa Gazi
Translator: Shabnam Nadiya
Genre: Literary Fiction; Mystery Thriller; Bangaleshi literature; Asian Literature
Pages: 190
BACKSTORY ON PICKING UP THIS BOOK
Hellfire is also one of the many books by Westland Publisher and their imprints which I panic-purchased when Amazon decided to shut down Westland Publisher and was going to scrap down all their existing books. This was a heartbreaking moment in the literary world. I’m glad Westland has tied up with Pratilipi and they still continue to publish books. So yeah, this book was sitting in my bookshelf from early 2022. Finally, in the end of 2023 I picked up the book majorly because of the size of the book which helped me boost my reading list for that year.
STORYLINE
Hellfire is a gripping and unsettling tale of two sisters, Lovely and Beauty who have never known outside world. All their life, they had been under the watchful scrutiny of their mother, Farida. Education, friends, relationships and personal freedom are luxuries that they cannot even dream of. Every aspect of their life is tightly controlled by their mother which leaves no space for individuality. All they know about life is their mundane and monotonous routine which they have come to accept as their reality.
But everything changes on Lovely’s fortieth birthday when she is allowed to go out for a shopping trip alone to Gausia Market, unchaperoned. The only condition laid out by her mother Farida was, Lovely should return home before curfew. This is a completely new experience for Lovely because this has never happened in the forty years of her life. The sudden liberty and a sense of independence makes Lovely extremely excited and thrilled in a good way. Driven by the mysterious voice in her head, Lovely sets on her first biggest and greatest adventure of her life, which might probably be the only adventure of her life- because she knows this kind of a rare opportunity will not present itself again. And so Lovely starts exploring the boundaries of her newfound freedom.
As she embarks on this little life changing journey she encounters both exhilarating experiences and haunting memories which makes her reconsider and question her way of living. The taste of freedom motivates Lovely to defy her mother’s expectations and embrace her desires bravely. Encouraged by the voice in her head, she makes bold choices that could completely reshape her future whereas her family anxiously awaits her return back home as the clock run past her curfew time. This powerful book delves in the intricacies of familial love, dark web of ugly family secrets, the journey of finding oneself in an oppressive patriarchal world.
REVIEW
This book was originally written in Bengali and translated in English by Shabnam Nadiya. Hellfire is a meticulously written piece of literary fiction. I loved the setting of the book, since it was happening in Bangladesh, I almost felt like this story is happening in some northern part of India and I was able to see a lot of cultural similarities throughout the book.
It is an extremely small book with around 190 pages with a free flowing language but I’m afraid you will not be able to run through this book in a go. Though the book might be small the intensity of the matters discussed over here is super deep, dark and thought-provoking. So, you will need sometime to assimilate what is happening in the book. Hellfire focuses on one day of Lovely‘s life- Lovely‘s fortieth birthday, though the book spans out on a single day, the author had given a clear understanding of their lives through richly crafted backstories and flashbacks.
I personally loved how the sisters has been named, Lovely and Beauty. Their names completely resonates with their characters. Lovely being the eldest daughter, she was responsible and kind whereas Beauty, the youngest who is passionate about her beauty and rebellious in nature. Within the first few pages of the book, you could grasp the nature of the characters vividly. Both of these character and mother, Farida‘s character has also been wonderfully written and developed. There were only handful of other characters in the book and all of them has been written down perfectly and none of them were irrelevant or unnecessary.
Farida is a powerful matriarch who runs the house with an iron fist. Though she is strict and a flag bearer of patriarchy, there were a lot of instances when I was able to resonate with her and understand where she is coming from. Through Farida‘s character, the author clearly showcased the toxicity present in familial bonds. Sometime too much love can also be toxic and that is exactly what Farida‘s character is all about. Her character also emphasises on bad parenting and how it psychologically affects the children after so many years. What I personally liked about this book was how men in the book were super silent but still the essence of patriarchy was successfully and strongly carried forward without any hinderance by Farida. Even in reality, patriarchy is so deeply ingrained in our minds that we often fail to recognise it. Most of the times it is the women who perpetuate patriarchy than men themselves. This dynamic has been beautifully captured in this book through Farida‘s character.
One of the vital characters apart from the mother and daughters is their house itself. Since their house is the place where the sisters has been constrained to, the author did a wonderful job in bring the house in Dhaka come live in front of our mind’s eye. Gazia Market was also depicted beautifully, the sensory details were so immersive after a point you will start smelling the spices and hearing the bustling of the market.
This book gave me Baby‘s day out vibe through and through but the only twist was that it was a forty-year-old woman instead of a baby. Even now I’m shocked with the kind of life Lovely and Beauty has been made to live under their mother’s oppression, especially considering their ages.
Initially when Lovely started exploring the Gazia Market I was completely hooked with her adventures but after a point, her adventures started to lag a bit. That’s when the voice in her head and flashbacks came to rescue. The funniest part about the book was the male voice in Lovely‘s head. It was extremely refreshing and funny to read. And I personally loved how this voice challenged Lovely to make bold and unconventional choices. This voice is one of the major factors which moved the story forward.
When the family secrets came to light, saying I was utterly shocked would be an understatement. I seriously did not see that coming. I loved the backstories and flashback so much, it added more depth and essence to the book. These twists made me pause for sometime to process the developments of the plot. Man! I did not see that coming!
And the climax was wow! I still do not know how to feel about it. I’m just shocked, unsettled and a little bit uncomfortable. Probably the author could have thought of an alternative end? Or an open ended climax? Maybe!!! I do not know how to process it or will I ever be able to process it.
But still it was a tremendously written piece of literature and I would like all the literary fiction fans to read at least once in their life time. The teeny-weeny nuances and the themes infiltrated into this plot was mind-boggling. It was a spine-chilling experience for me.
My rating for this book would be 3 out of 4 stars
Happy Reading Folks!
