A.A. Khan – Sorry It’s A Girl

‘Sorry It’s A Girl’ by A.A. Khan is a debut book that follows five women who are attempting to find their way through a world that is modern yet traditional. A fascinating story in which the author has skilfully woven together societal expectations and traditional values with modern life today and the ever-evolving roles and priorities.

The women in this story seem to have it all on the surface and we follow the challenges they face daily. The fact that they are well off makes us generally feel like they should be happy, everything can be solved with money, can’t it? The fact that they are women should not matter, should it? We see the wealthy side but also meet Fehranaz, a woman who is not as lucky not only is she a woman but she has been born into a poor family and has been sold into service. The cruelty of the wealthier people to others just highlights the issue of society as a whole but from people with enough of everything it makes it harder to swallow. It angered me throughout the book whenever I experienced this cruelty, I felt like the poor have enough to contend with why make it worse?!

The prologue, even though I know this fact already, made my jaw drop. Seeing it in black and white, the difference the gender makes of a baby. It made me feel really sad that girls are seen as unimportant, when really, they are anything but unimportant. The fact that girls can have all the home comforts and rich trappings but when it comes down to it, they are trapped by values and tradition. The lack of choice made me feel like they lived in a gilded cage, and that is terrible for todays society.
‘Sorry it’s a Girl’ is an absorbing and educational read, for me. A book that is not always a comfortable read but is interspersed with lighter moments also.

The issues it raises are serious ones that need addressing in some way and somehow. I am aware that the girls that do kick against the system are mostly ones who end up hardly ever seeing or speaking to their family again, as they are ashamed of their daughter. These are things that can happen in any culture or society and it seems to me to be one long road of heartache that these values and traditions have the capability to cause, just makes me sad. A highly recommended engaging read for me.

Thanks to Random Things Tours and A.A Khan for the book to write my review.