upstairs wife, The
Book Description
In The Upstairs Wife, Rafia Zakaria weaves together the intimate story of her family with the broader transformation of Pakistan, creating a powerful exploration of how political forces shape personal destinies. When Zakaria's Muslim-Indian family moved from Bombay to Karachi in 1962, they carried hopes for a promising future in their new homeland. For years, both family and city flourished together.
However, the 1980s brought dramatic changes as military leaders launched an Islamization campaign that would reshape Pakistani society, particularly impacting women's lives. This political shift becomes deeply personal when Zakaria's Aunt Amina faces an unthinkable betrayal: her husband takes a second wife, shattering family bonds and challenging long-held customs.
Through Amina's struggle to navigate a marriage that has fallen short of her dreams, Zakaria illuminates the human cost of increasingly restrictive religious and cultural mandates. The narrative traces how colonial legacies, emerging terrorist violence, and growing misogyny intersect to create a complex web of challenges for Pakistani women.
This memoir offers readers insight into the resilience required to love a place not as an idealized vision, but as a real city filled with contradictions. Zakaria's storytelling reveals how individual women navigate between personal aspirations and societal expectations, providing a nuanced understanding of faith, family, and the courage needed to confront difficult truths about the places and relationships we hold dear.
Who Is This For?
📖 Reading Level: Medium (200-400 pages) (~7 hours)
📄 Length: 251 pages
What You'll Discover
- ✓ Explore Misogyny
- ✓ Explore General
- ✓ Create spiritual family harmony
- ✓ Explore Pakistan, social conditions
- ✓ Explore Women
- ✓ Explore Pakistan, biography
- ✓ Explore Aunts
- ✓ Explore BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY
