Chapters 1 & 2 of “Aunt Safiyya and the Monastery”

I just started this book and so far I am really enjoying it. There are a few key points I want to go over that caught my eye in the first two chapters, I thought it was really different that everyone who lives in the village is related and how they call one another brother and sister rather than a cousin also how they refer to one as “the son of my mother’s father’s brother”. Another thing that jumped out at me was the way the mother would act towards her daughters. For example when the girls were sent out to deliver cookies to their family, and accidently dropped them in the street, the mother reacted by giving them blows and kicks all the while complaining about the bad luck that had cursed her with the birth of such daughters. Last but not least, I thought it was horrible the way Harbi was treaded; being tied up to a tree and beaten is just brutal. I feel there is so much more I could say but I want to keep it short. Anyways I can’t wait for the next chapter.