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Book Review: Baby's Breath by Shahnaz Zaidi

Baby's Breath by Shahnaz Zaidi is a general novel about a special child girl: Pari Khan. The girl being a marginalized and slightly autistic child, yet her story is nothing less than a fairytale with least resistance. For children suffering from any sort of autism, the novel is inspiring and sounds like a fairytale.


The story stretches from cradle to young age. The novel is staged against India and the U.K. with cross culture as one of the prominent themes. In Hasanpur, there is one rich Muslim family, from money and culture point of view. They live in Haveli with all facilities and people at hand. As the story progress, you will get familiar with the ethos of the Haveli and characters like Bibi Saheb, Bua, Munshi, Uzair, and many those who live in the UK and pay visit in summer. Clearly, the story is set in time when communication and modern gadgets were limited and lives were distinguished between ordinary and rich people.

Well, one day, in the sad and aloof life of Bibi Saheb and Bua, a new born girl makes entry dramatically. In a sense, they pick up the baby and adopt it and adore her life. That girl child brings happiness to all. Life that looked barren in the Haveli now buzzes with new gusto. That girl is Pari Khan. She is taken care of and sent to school for proper education. Soon it comes out that she suffers from a mild autism where she doesn’t like things out of the routine and she needs to be taken care of with love and precision.

Fast forward, Pari Khan enjoys her life at a boarding school. She makes friends and the artist inside her turns out fabulously. She enjoys painting, especially of landscape ones. Also her favourite flower is baby’s breath – a tender flower. It represents love and softness needed in life to mould one’s malleable heart. She, with full support, moves on with life. She gets an opportunity and flies to London for higher education. She excels in her field but has to face racism at the hands of a few professors. Her stay and struggle in London makes up a fascinating tale itself. The novel is a good read but there could have been some dramatic climaxes. The story is straightforward like a fairytale but still high on credibility. More than a fictional tale, the novel probably tries to tell us how one can shape the life of an autistic child. It syncs a sort of life journey.

The author’s knowledge on child nurturing is great. She must have seen such a story somewhere to put in papers. Well-edited and brilliantly written, the novel qualifies to be one among the literature that can help the less privileged ones. Read the novel to know the inside story of Pari Khan and what life offers her at various junctures. All in all, a good novel with great message to the society.

Buy from Amazon.

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