"Heart Lamp" by Banu Mushtaq is the first short story collection to win The International Booker Prize 2025. There are twelve stories in total. The stories poignantly capture the hardships and capacities of Muslim women living in southern India. The featuring stories are written in between 1990 and 2023. The book mirrors many of the challenges the women face, brought on by a deeply patriarchal society. The review then follows a short, yet dynamic biographical introduction of the author followed by a thorough input about the importance of translation of the work from Kannada to English. The next section of the review consists of how the author illuminates Muslim woman’s suppressed hidden world misused in the name of paradise and pedigree. The style and technique explore the similes, images, irony and sarcasm, idioms and setting. The Role of the Mutawalli in the lives of the Muslim society finds an exclusive rack in my review of the book followed by the range of themes.
- Quote paper
- Mumtaz Mazumdar (Author), 2025, Paradoxes of Power and Persistence. Banu Mushtaq’s "Heart Lamp" and the Voices of Marginalized Women, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1594254
