The Kurdish Bike: My takeaway

Synopsis: The plot is about a teacher from USA, who joined a school as English teacher in Kurdistan. She started biking and explored Kurdistan beyond the classroom. The novel also captures the finer nuances of a workplace environment in Kurdish setting.

Review: At surface level, the novel appears as a travelogue on Kurdistan but to me it is more about struggle of a few women, who are from Kurdistan, America and a few other countries who are based in Kurdistan. It also gives some interesting comparison between life of a woman in America and Kurdistan. The issue of male dominance in wider society impacting society overall and women in particular is very much evident. The work place dynamics between expats and local and also between male and female is captured very sensitively. Here also, the additional stress a female staff goes through is evident. The issue of Female genital mutilation (FGM) has been also raised and its various dimensions have been captured.

The cultural differences leading to expectations as well as inner struggle of individuals are also captured. An individual may get overwhelmed seeing poverty and wishes to change everything but she or he is a cog in the overall system. The individual can be an agent of change but at the same time in many situations, she or he has limited capacity to bring changes. This mental struggle is also nicely captured.

My final word about the novel is that it's a beautiful book of the struggle of women in a men’s world and setting is Kurdistan.