I really enjoyed this very interesting debut novel. Hassan’s writing sheds light on the reality of the aid community and what happens when something tragic happens. I sound myself irritated with the lead character Maya at times but in hindsight I now believe her actions demonstrated how we are only human,even if we are an aid worker! This book packs a powerful punch and is important reading.

"We Meant Well" by Erum Shazia Hasan was such an engaging read! Following Maya's journey, as readers we get to explore the underbelly of the international charity that's set out to help developing countries during the time of major crisis; one of the deployed managers is accused of raping a local staffer.

There is do doubt that Maya was sent to Likanni to save the image of the organisation, not to help the survivor. Battling her own mental health and marital issues, she's thrown in the middle of the crisis, in which she needs to make important decisions: whom to believe? How to provide safety for her team? How her decision will affect future funding?

The protagonist is a very complex character, and so is the landscape of the imaginary location. Erum Shazia Hasan paints a very believable picture of the dynamics between the local communities and the helpers, as well as the cast of characters and their motivations - from the beginning until the very powerful ending.

We Meant Well is an important book, not only because it is beautifully written and structured but because it raises ethical questions for the reader about providing aid and about what to do when things go dreadfully wrong. These are uncomfortable and that do not have easy answers. but they do need to be asked. It could be set in the life and times of NGOs anywhere where there is war, poverty and western companies after valuable resources, where children are conscripted into armies and where orphanages are part of life for children who can't be cared for in their communities. What Erum Shazia Hasan does, with the clear benefit of her lived experience, is to create a context where we are faced with the same issues that every NGO worker is likely to face at some time. How can I show appropriate respect, our lives and experiences are so different , what is the best way to do more than mean well ? The content is contemporary and I can imagine that international aid students may be asked to read We Meant Well as a case study in the future.
Maya is perfect as our leader in the imaginary Likanni where she has been the 'bigabosse' of a charitable orphanage. Naturally the charity has their head office in Geneva and Maya herself is managing a number of orphanages from her base in LA. Welcome to reality. Those on the ground have been 'left' to manage as best they can. The book starts with a call to Maya in LA advising that one of her colleagues has been accused of the assault of a young girl. her endeavours to resolve this situation means she returns and gives us an insider's view of the reality of life in such an environment. It isn't only the beautiful and accurate descriptions of the people and their land it is also the compromises the locals make and those the the aid workers make on a daily basis. The transitory nature of staff who fly in for a year or two and the challenge of a potentially violent day to day life. The story unfolds beautifully with increasing complexity but Maya's own life is also imploding and the required decision making will be at risk. I loved this book and will be recommending it strongly as a must read. Thanks to @netgalley and @ecwpress.com for the copy to review. The opinions are my own.

A very timely and important novel, I really enjoyed the prose and perspective of this one and also the questions this one raised. Who deserves greatness in this world?

*** Thank you to NetGalley and ECW Press for an early release copy of We Meant Well in exchange for an honest review of the book. ***

"I have since learned that when you make a career out of helping the starved, you somehow become what is starving them"

We Meant Well is narrated by, Maya, a woman who is part of a team that operates a charitable orphanage in Likanni. Maya works remotely, leading a cushy life in California, when she is called into Likanni in response to a rape allegation that has been made against a member of the charitable orphanage team. At the heart of the narrative, We Meant Well is grappling with the question of whether foreign aid groups do as much good as they do harm. Interestingly, the book's author, Erum Shazia Hasan, is a Sustainable Development Consultant for various UN agencies, giving the book a unique and valuable perspective.

As a reader, I've never read a book like this. The pacing was slow at first, with many of the storylines contributing to a tension that crescendos in the final chapters (in this way, it reminded me a bit of the television show, White Lotus). Conversations do a lot of work in the book, and the dialogue is often a back-and-forth that serves as a vehicle for a conversation about different controversial topics. These include the role of charities working in foreign countries, the morality and/or motivations of dedicating one’s life to aid work, women’s freedom in religious clothing customs (e.g. burqas, abayas), and staying "motivated" to continue aid work despite endless suffering.

Maya is not always a likable narrator, but in light of the title and the question that the story contends with, the way that she is writen works perfectly for the story. Maya slowly reveals her motives for becoming involved and they are markedly less than genuine: "I wanted those stories. I wanted to do something meaningful.”, she states, in response to another aid worker telling a story of a boy arriving at a clinic looking for medical attention for his sick brother. This narration straddled the boundary between a criticism disguised as a caricature of the type of workers and their mentality when conducting "foreign aid" work and Maya's own self-awareness at the irony she was often inhabiting. This tension is perhaps better illustrated by another quote later, when Maya says about the capital, "The capital had gyms, it had clubs, it had writers festivals, along with light genocide”. Throughout, Maya is keenly aware of her privilege as a "foreigner". However, her own self-awareness does not absolve her of her complicity; and she appears blind to how she is engaging in her very own "feel good myth" by participating in the work at all.

In sum, I thought We Meant Well was an interesting, at times intentionally cringey, and a unique conversation about many topics: what "aid" work really means, our responsibility (to ourselves, the communities we inhabit, our friends, our jobs, the truth), privilege, and above all else, the role that outside charities play when conducting work in developing countries. We Meant Well made me think more than most other books I've read recently and, largely through dialogue, engages a lot of really important conversations that deserve more breathing room in conversations about these types of charities.

This was a very multi-layered novel. I really enjoyed the visual nature of Hasan's writing style as it brought the novel to life. The characters were also well fleshed out and the novel left me with food for thought, which is the mark of an interesting book.