Pieces You’ll Never Get Back by Samina Ali
I was human after all discussion questions, zoom link, and next book
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Discussion questions
What are your overall impressions of the book?
The narrative layers Ali’s experience during and after her medically traumatic birth with stories from her childhood. What do these earlier narratives teach us about Ali?
What role does Islam play in Ali’s life? How has she made her relationship to Islam her own?
“I was split down the middle and, desperate to voice what I was going through, I started to write stories as a way to stitch myself back together.” Even before her traumatic brain injury, writing plays a role of bringing together disparate parts of Ali’s life and self. How does Ali use writing to create wholeness?
Ali’s doctors dismiss her concerns and the messages she receives from her body. What are your thoughts on the medical repression of her (accurate) concerns?
What are your thoughts on the representation of motherhood in this book? Both Ali’s experience as a mother, and her mother’s experience as a mother? What are the experiences of being mothered in this book?
What role does patriarchy play in this book? Where is it challenged? Where is it left unchallenged?
Why does Ali agree to an arrangement marriage? Why does she choose to get divorced and remarry on her own terms?
What role does writing play in Ali’s recovery from her traumatic brain injury?
What does this book reveal about the relationship between memory and identity?
Zoom information for the meeting today:
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