Review by Black Butterfly

“Stoop to conquer”

Beyond The Cayenne Wall tells 7 short stories of women we think we've seen, but never really heard about.  Shaila Abdullah introduces us to Pakistani society on a number of levels.  She tells stories about urban women, rural women, pampered women, hardscrabble women, educated women.  Ms. Abdullah uses simple but powerful imagery interspersed with Urdu to generate the inclusive quality of “being there”.  At the root of the stories are the cultural burdens women bear.  Although the setting appears exclusively eastern, oddly enough, the struggles, disappointments, joys, and sorrows of these women transcend borders.  Pending marriage, difficult conception, in-laws, and tradition are issues we can all relate to, and doing so through the prism of eastern culture only makes us richer for it. 

I truly enjoyed this collection of short stories, and devoured them in one setting.  Reading about the determination of  Tannu, the fierce protectiveness of Dhool, the revelation of Minnah, the stoicism of Shiwali, the persistence and horrible discovery of Minal, the grief of Mansi, and the redemption of Nyssa brought all of this into sharp relief.  In today’s climate, we often see the eastern world against the backdrop of war and conflict.  We never see the more mundane aspects of everyday life that fuel so much of the other.  What I appreciated most was the view into everyday life that tends to be overshadowed and outright forgotten in today’s political climate. 

Although the women are not always successful, they are always triumphant.  Even when circumstance conspires against them, and fortune turns its back, each of these women demands and receives small victories.  Be it the mockery of a quickly hidden glance, the silence of hidden passion, the damning knowledge of a bully’s frailty, each story illustrates that sometimes the best part of victory is—modesty.  It has not been since college that I remembered reading about feminism around the world.  Sometimes, it is very easy to believe that our kind of feminism is the only kind.  Feminism isn’t only about working outside the home and sitting in front of the classroom.  Sometimes, its as much about what is still going on inside the home, and what kind of classroom.  Sometimes it is about bouncing back as opposed to striking first.  I think these stories make an excellent addition to any woman’s library, and I heartily recommend them.

-- Angela Hailey (Black Butterfly Review)