Book of the Month–April 2016
The Pearl that Broke Its Shell
By Nadia Hashimi
Although the lives of women and girls are restricted in Afghanistan, some are able to experience a great deal of freedom through the practice of bacha posh. It allows young girls to adopt male names, clothes, and behaviour until puberty. Modern families employ the practice in the hope that it will bring them good fortune and an actual son in the future.
The Pearl That Broke Its Shell tells the story of two girls who engage in the practice of bacha posh living 100 years apart. Rahima is a young girl in the 21st century. Without a brother to chaperone them, she and her sisters are unable to go to school. The tradition of bacha posh allows Rahima to become Rahim and take on the role of a son in the family. Similarly, Rahima’s ancestor Shekiba, an orphan with disfiguring burn on her face, adopted a male role 100 years earlier.
The novel tells the stories of both girls’ experiences.
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About Author
The Pearl That Broke Its Shell is the debut novel from Nadia Hashimi, an Afghan-American writer. Her paren'ts were born in Afghanistan and both left the country in the early 1970s. Hashimi has said that her paren'ts and extended family exposed her to Afghan culture and traditions from an early age. She attended Brandeis University where she studied biology and Middle Eastern Studies, followed by medical school and a pediatrics practice. While pregnant with her daughter, Hashimi decided to cut back on her medical practice and write this novel. It was followed by When the Moon is Low, published in 2015. Nadia Hashimi lives in Maryland with her family where she combines writing with her medical practice.
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