Written by contributor Verushka Byrow
I wish I had a book like The Henna Wars growing up.
Nishat is a Bangladeshi girl, living in Ireland with her parents and her sister, Priti. While attending a Bangladeshi wedding one day, she realises that she needs to tell her parents the truth about her sexuality so that they don’t continue to expect and plan for a wedding for Nishat, just like the one they’re at.
Nishat has dreams of being accepted by her parents, of everything being okay, but in truth when she does come out to them, nothing is the same. Thankfully, she has Priti on her side, and as it turns out, a burgeoning interest in Flavia, a biracial classmate (her mother is Brazilian) who has returned to Nishat’s school after a couple of years away. Except, she also happens to be the cousin of the girl who has been bullying Nishat for years, Chyna.
When the girls are given a class project to start their own business, Nishat decides to start her own henna business, something Flavia copies because she likes art. There’s a discussion on cultural appropriation that I wish went on further, but really there’s so much goodness in here, it’s a small quibble.
As it turns out, their decisions to run the same henna business set Nishat and Flavia in competition with each other, accompanied by the push-and-pull and fear of two girls realising they like each other.
Their relationship is set also set against the theme of family – predominantly Nishat’s, though I’ll get to Flavia’s as well. ‘Muslim girls are not lesbians’ is something her parents believe, and when they urge her to reconsider her ‘choice’ my heart broke for Nishat who just wants to be herself – for herself, and with her parents. But this is a familiar cultural refrain, in that I’ve heard plenty about what Indian girls should be doing and shouldn’t be doing growing up, and standing up for the choices I made was not an easy thing.
As the book progresses, both Nishat and readers learn more about her parents, and the choices they made, which give their own words and actions perspective in this book. I enjoyed that immensely as these are complex characters, and there’s more to them than being the ‘parents who come around to their daughter’s sexuality’.
Priti, Nishat’s younger sister, is such a joy. She is her greatest supporter and her protector, but at the same time she isn’t afraid to call Nishat on things she’s done in the book to open her eyes. It’s understandable that Nishat is so wrapped up in her business project and dealing with Flavia, but family is important to her and it’s Priti that makes her realise just what she’s missing out on.
The book tells us just enough about Flavia’s family to make me think there’s a whole book in her own relationships. Her mother wants to prove to her father’s side in the family that he made the right choice marrying her, putting undue pressure on Flavia and her sister. But, I can understand that too. Chyna herself is at her core racist, and Flavia realising that about her cousin was as much a relief, as it was sad.
I did think that their relationship moved very quickly into intense like, but that was a minor hiccup in a book I recommend everyone read.
In addition to this, the author explores the complexity of friendships with teenage girls in Nishat’s friendships with Chaewon and Jess. Like with her family, Nishat’s struggles block out that she isn’t being friends to Chaewon and Jess, and it results in a break down of their relationship during the book. I like that it simmered in the background, but it was always there until Nishat was ready to realise what she’d done and repair it, as did Chaewon and Jess for their actions.
Bullying is another part of this book. It’s the insidious kind where rumours are spreading like wildfire, before Nishat comes out, and then again after. Adiba Jaigirdar ties it all together though, making for such a wonderfully compelling read.
Adiba Jaigirdar has created incredibly relatable characters, struggling with who they are in a world in which they will always stand out whether it be because of the colour of their skin, the food they eat, or their sexuality. That’s the beauty of this book as Nishat struggled with the consequences of coming out to her parents, but she’s also struggling with being bullied (long before anyone knew she was a lesbian), with friendships and her relationship with her sister. All of this will appeal to a wealth of readers who just may need to read a book that makes them smile and makes them feel hopeful.
The Henna Wars is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers as of May 12th 2020.
Will you be picking up The Henna Wars? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
When Dimple Met Rishi meets Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda in this rom com about two teen girls with rival henna businesses.
When Nishat comes out to her parents, they say she can be anyone she wants—as long as she isn’t herself. Because Muslim girls aren’t lesbians. Nishat doesn’t want to hide who she is, but she also doesn’t want to lose her relationship with her family. And her life only gets harder once a childhood friend walks back into her life.
Flávia is beautiful and charismatic and Nishat falls for her instantly. But when a school competition invites students to create their own businesses, both Flávia and Nishat choose to do henna, even though Flávia is appropriating Nishat’s culture. Amidst sabotage and school stress, their lives get more tangled—but Nishat can’t quite get rid of her crush on Flávia, and realizes there might be more to her than she realized.
