Some stories make you appreciate life better. To understand the way most societies are so similar in actions and elections to events. I absolutely liked the character of Idil's mother both as a wife and mother. Her untiring ways to keep her daughter safe from herself and world were almost heart breaking. And so was her end. I felt deeply for Idil as she suffered from one blow to another but also appreciated the practical and loving approach of her mother in law. This is a hard book to read but so much emotional connects it makes with you .

This story follows the life of Idil, a Somali young girl that was born in a Bliss family. Her father was an army General, which gave the family more luxury than the rest of the people of their community.
The story moves in two directions, the first is for Idil to understand her position as a woman. They don't have the right for free will, speak their minds, take decisions for their own, fight for what they believe is right. And Idil doesn't want to accept that because she has two brothers and the inequality between them is something she doesn't understand that combined with the life full of suffering that her mother has.
The other direction is that Idil has to fight for a forbidden love due cultural and economical differences. She falls in love with a Boon, a slave, but their love is stronger than any rule or obligation.
Is a cruel and sad story but there where times when I stop to consider that most of the things that Idil had to suffer many women do suffer, in real life.
My rating is 3.5/5, this because there where times that I got bored or it was to much suffering for one person.

Tale of a Boon's Wife is unquestionably one of the best novel I've read this year. This book narrates the hardships of a young Somali girl Idil, from a Bliss tribe, who fallen in love with a Sidow, a Boon guy. The Boon tribe was a lower class tribe in Somalia because they were once slaves to the upper class tribes, such as the Bliss.

Due to the difference to the social class, apart from Idil's younger brother Emil, other members of her family strongly opposed her relationship to SIdow. They had no choice but to elope because her parents were planning to marry her to Jamac. From there on, several suffering were experienced by the couple: from drought, civil war, poverty, and death.

Women's hardships were clearly described in this novel; the quote in this book, "A man's dirt is his woman's wash, always," is the appropriate representation how women were viewed since then. Until now, some women still experiences this kind of treatment from their husband or partner, especially those who are older. Moreover, being a second class citizen/person of women in a Muslim country were also addressed in this remarkable novel.

I love how Idil showed courage particularly in the latter part of the book; I was extremely happy while reading the ending because Idil and her family will finally have a better life away from her father; her older brother Omar and her second wife Rhoda; and from her pursuer Jamac.

This is the story of Idil and Sidow's love for each other and the repercussions that followed because of it. Idil is from the Bliss tribe in Somalia and Sidow from the Boon tribe, who were thought of as inferior by her tribe.
Having met at school, the two could not be more different in their upbringing, she from a well to do military family and he the son of a farmer.
Idil watches her parents marriage and is determined not to follow in their footsteps, and despite their demands that she marry whom they choose, she and Sidow, fight to be together.
This story is very emotional, as we see how women are treated and how the caste system demeans a persons worth.
Idils father and elder brother will do anything to make life miserable for Idil and Sidow, but she does have an ally in her younger brother.
Idil's mother, with her misguided advice and demands, is not a great roll model for her daughter, but she always feels she is doing what is best for her.
This story is very well written and was very educational for me to see the civil unrest play out in the country. The descriptions of the female roll and what tradition are expected in a marriage.
I very much look forward to another book by this author.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Second Story Press for the ARC.

I was immediately drawn into this story about Idil, a young Somali girl from the Bliss tribe and her controversial relationship with Sidow, a boy from the Boon tribe. The author was so descriptive I could easily picture everything that was happening. I felt not only entertained but educated with this novel!

Idil's father, a high ranking officer in the military, is transferred to another city due to his infidelities with other women living on the base. Having to move the whole family has upset Idil, an eighth grader, and the friendships she had cultivated at her old school. Her first day at the new school she befriends Sidow, a boy who offered friendship. Idil and Sidow became great friends, though once her mother met Sidow she learned that he was a Boon, a tribe thought to be of very low class and intelligence. Idil's family forbade her from seeing Sidow. This pushed her closer to him and a deeper relationship developed.
The book takes you through the years of their friendship and all the trials and suffering that came along. I loved the writing and was sad when it ended. A truly great book.

A moving story of a young Somali woman who falls in love with a man forbidden to her by law, “Tale of a Boon’s Wife” tells of family, courage, tragedy and perseverance. Against the backdrop of civil war, the story outlines not only the prejudice within the Somali caste system, but also the subjugation of woman throughout the country.
Idil, a member of the Bliss clan, is the daughter of a high-ranking official in the Somali military. The love of her life, Sidow, is a member of the Boon tribe, far below her in status and hierarchy. Even after the law forbidding discrimination is changed, Idil’s mother and corrupt father and brother forbid their marriage. What follows is a dramatic and complex story as Idil and Sidow refuse to bow to convention.
I found the details in this tale of Somalia fascinating and educational, from the description of wedding traditions, to the role of women as objects for men’s pleasure and use and to the horrors of civil unrest in the country. Idil’s strength is unwavering in the face of her father’s and brother’s despicable behavior and the torn loyalties of her mother.
Although this book outlined tragedy after tragedy, an element of hope was woven into even the darkest moments. I was thoroughly engaged with the characters of Idil and Sidow and found myself worried for their well-being throughout, while sincerely hoping that her brother and father would disappear from their lives.
A strong 4-star rating for this one. I thank NetGalley and Second Story Press for an advanced reading copy in exchange for my honest review.

The author, who also escaped Somalia during the civil war, writes about a woman who marries for love, and outside her tribe. Similar to how the Indian's had/have a cast system, where you were supposed to marry at your level or above, and never marry an untouchable, so too in Somalia, apparently, to marry a Boon was the worst offense, as they had once been slaves of the upper tribes.

Idil wants to marry for love, despite it meaning that she will lose everything. Not quite a Romeo and Juliet story, but one that shows how rank, especially during a civil war, can mean the matter of life and death.

Very realistic story. Very sad, but I love how determined Idil is. Although when she is fighting with her parents about wanting to marry for love, in the beginning, I thought she was a broken record. Later, that broken record was her loyalty.

Learned a lot, by reading this book. I had to keep looking up information on the civil war in Somalia, and the history.

Plus I stayed up late to finish this book. Truly amazing story. Yes, there were bits that lagged, but not enough to move my rating down


Thanks to Netgalley and Second Story books for making this book available for an honest review.

Idil, a young girl in Somalia, is the daughter of a general and whose family is of the dominant Bliss tribe. Her older brother is a sadistic creep and her younger brother has a heart as big as her own. Her mother does what is expected of her, repeating all the toxic masculinity brainwashing that goes on in patriarchal cultures everywhere.
Oh, this is a beautifully written and terrifying book!
Because of her general father’s numerous affairs, the last one ending in violence, they are moved closer to the capitol.  Thus Idil meets Sidow, and their friendship is fast and immediate.  For both her and her younger brother, Sidow is a healing balm when they can get away from their toxic household. Sidow is sweet, smart and talented, but he’s also of the Boon tribe, who are, historically, of a lower social order to the Bliss.
In a country already torn apart by civil war, the love that grows between Sidow and Idil is strong, strong enough for Idil to defy her parents and marry her soul’s mate, creating their own small resistance in the face of destructive traditions that would tear them apart. 
There is so much more going on than in this brief summary.  The author’s graceful and eloquent yet earthy language creates an immediacy and emotional immersion into Idil’s world, her mind and heart. Heartbreaking, though Idil remains strong and true as her mother, her family, her home, and country break apart.
Highly recommended. I’ll be looking for more from this author.
Thank you NetGalley and Second Story Press :D

Tale of a Boon's Wife is a masterful piece of storytelling encompassing family, loyalty, love, and tribal differences. Idil, from the Bliss tribe in Somalia, finds herself in love with a Boon boy and defies her culture and parents when she decides to run away and marry him. Through being disowned by her father, a civil war, homelessness, rape, and poverty she holds her family together by sheer grit, personal strength, and perseverance.

This is not just another story of boy meets girl, and so on, as the struggles and lawlessness within the country and the challenges that Idil faces are real and will touch the hearts of readers. This is a sad story full of pain and heartfelt emotion that will keep you reading and hoping for the best until the very end.

I highly recommend this book. Thank you Netgalley and Second Story Press for the opportunity to read this book.

A man's dirt is his woman's wash,always.
If a statement like that does not make you cringe, I wonder what your reaction would be to the many more utterances by characters in this book who dream of hope, but find themselves bound by their gender, religion, status and societal expectations.
Set fifteen years before the 1991 civil war in Somalia, the story is told from Idil's point of view. She's a young, bold woman who chooses love over class and social status. She get's married to Sidow, who is considered a Boon hence of a lower class. She is Bliss, and does not care much for her mother's warnings or even Sidow's mother's warnings about how wrong they are for each other.
Idil has two brothers; Omar is the eldest and his love for torturing and killing cats paints the picture of a dictator before he even turns nineteen. Elmi, the one with a heart full of love and compassion, who sees Idil's pain before she speaks of it.
The book starts with a girl's adoration and love for her family especially her Father, General Hussein Nuur, who is expected home after a long stay in Russia. His return soon unravels his infidelity and Idil, the only girl in the family, begins to question his actions and the consequent reaction to the acts by her mother. The more she asks the more her mother silences her, expecting her to accept and move on, but it is clear from the first page that Idil is not the kind to back down.
However, it is her tenacity that sees her through the challenges she faces in her married life. Like most books where women are oppressed, here Idil constantly asks why her mother and so many women around her choose to accept decisions made over their lives without their consent. It is more of wondering why they choose to fold their hands and accept to be treated as objects.
It is clear when Idil's mother seeks out Rhoda as a bride for her eldest son, Omar, yet he's already married to an Italian lady. Idil tells Rhoda the truth about her situation hoping that she would decide to call off the wedding, but comes to learn that her Father had traded with Rhoda's family too by offering her hand in marriage to Jamac, Rhoda's brother, in exchange.
It broke my heart when Idil, Sidow and their family were forced to leave Bledley and venture forth into Mogadishu because they can no longer depend on their farm to sustain them. I do not know what grief they felt at having to leave the one place they loved, not because they wanted to, but because they needed to do so just to survive. Reading the book after this became unbearable with the war and the family struggling to stay alive.

I love Fartumo's writing. Her tone takes whichever form it can to advance the plot and in all you cannot help but root for Idil to make it through. Her resilience is evident in her daughter, Amina, and it leaves you wishing for the best that no matter what happens Idil would never let society silence her daughter's voice.

What came across as quite odd, was that the people who deemed themselves worthy and of a higher class, Bliss, were wicked, selfish, violent and cared less about women. The Boons who were seen as unworthy on the other hand showed more compassion and understanding. Elmi said it better at some point when he was talking to Idil, There is always a huge gap between what people seem to be and what they really are.
I would like to read more of her works.
Thank you Second Story Press and NetGalley for approving my request to read this book. I heard about Fartumo from a friend long before I got to read this book. I am glad she wrote this story.

Such extraordinary writing! This novel impressed me with its strong character development and insightful prose, as it delved into complex issues of family, love, and loyalty, with unbridled depth.