Sisters in Arms
Author: Bazyar, Shida
ISBN: 9781761380105
Publisher: Scribe Publications
Year first published: 05 Sep 2023
Pages: 288
Format: Paperback / softback
From the author of International Booker Prize-shortlisted The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran
'We don't exist in this world. Here we're neither Germans nor refugees; we aren't newsreaders or experts. We're some kind of joker in the pack, and they don't know if they can use us for anything.'
Kasih, Hani, and Saya have shared a deep friendship since school and the years they lived in the same public housing estate. Kasih and Hani still live in the same city, but now Saya is returning and they have a lot to catch up on. Yet amid the laughter and determination of their sisterhood, it's clear to the three young women that they haven't escaped the racism that has accompanied their daily lives since childhood: the glances, the chatter, and the outright right-wing terror.
Sisters in Arms is a lyrical, explosive novel about the importance of friendship - the kind of extraordinary friendship that brings stability to an unstable world. Until one dramatic night that will change everything for the three women, propelling Kasih to tell the tale of themselves.
'A smart, important novel that gives you a caress on the cheek and a punch in the jaw as you read it. The amazing thing is that in the end you want more of both.'
-Pierre Jarawan, author of Song for the Missing
'This worthy novel about immigration and racism in contemporary Germany is tough going. Bazyar is astute in her depiction of a contemporary climate that explicitly "others" migrants.'
-Claire Allfree, Daily Mail
'Shida Bazyar tells us - uncompromisingly, powerfully, and accusingly - what it means to have one's origins constantly questioned.'
-Judges' comments for the German Book Prize
ISBN: 9781761380105
Publisher: Scribe Publications
Year first published: 05 Sep 2023
Pages: 288
Format: Paperback / softback
From the author of International Booker Prize-shortlisted The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran
'We don't exist in this world. Here we're neither Germans nor refugees; we aren't newsreaders or experts. We're some kind of joker in the pack, and they don't know if they can use us for anything.'
Kasih, Hani, and Saya have shared a deep friendship since school and the years they lived in the same public housing estate. Kasih and Hani still live in the same city, but now Saya is returning and they have a lot to catch up on. Yet amid the laughter and determination of their sisterhood, it's clear to the three young women that they haven't escaped the racism that has accompanied their daily lives since childhood: the glances, the chatter, and the outright right-wing terror.
Sisters in Arms is a lyrical, explosive novel about the importance of friendship - the kind of extraordinary friendship that brings stability to an unstable world. Until one dramatic night that will change everything for the three women, propelling Kasih to tell the tale of themselves.
'A smart, important novel that gives you a caress on the cheek and a punch in the jaw as you read it. The amazing thing is that in the end you want more of both.'
-Pierre Jarawan, author of Song for the Missing
'This worthy novel about immigration and racism in contemporary Germany is tough going. Bazyar is astute in her depiction of a contemporary climate that explicitly "others" migrants.'
-Claire Allfree, Daily Mail
'Shida Bazyar tells us - uncompromisingly, powerfully, and accusingly - what it means to have one's origins constantly questioned.'
-Judges' comments for the German Book Prize
