Review by Jasmine Sov, 15
An Emotion of Great Delight By Tahereh Mafi
In 2003, against the background of a post-9/11 world, the Muslim community faces more bigotry and harassment than ever. And in the midst of it all, Shadi’s family is falling apart. Her brother is dead, her father is dying, and her mother and sister both have turned to damaging ways of releasing their emotions. Burdened further by a falling-out with her best friend and a heartbreak that rocks her world to its core, Shadi tries to deal with it all by sinking deeper into the abyss of her stewing emotions, ignoring the hatred and pain all around her. And then finally, one day, she explodes.
An Emotion of Great Delight is a snapshot of the life of a Muslim girl post-9/11, punctuated by moments of grief and sheer feeling. The plot, which leans appropriately towards the slice-of-life genre, occasionally confuses the reader with its deviations from the situations at hand—but still, the novel dances a graceful ballet over the lines dividing poetry and prose. Mafi’s fervent prose, a strong point of hers, is showcased beautifully through Shadi’s tired and sorrow-torn voice. However, there was one thing that rubbed me the wrong way—around the middle of the book, Shadi refers to burqas, a long and enveloping outer garment that covers the body and face and is worn by women in some Islamic traditions, as “gross tent things the Taliban forces women to wear in Afghanistan.” As I am not Muslim, I am not sure if this is disrespectful to burqa-wearers in Islamic traditions or not, but the remark seemed a bit off-putting. An Emotion of Great Delight is a jewel with inclusions. Alhough it has its flaws, its ideas and themes make the story quite worth reading.
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256 pages