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    On Fragile Waves
    On Fragile Waves
    On Fragile Waves
    Audiobook6 hours

    On Fragile Waves

    Written by E. Lily Yu

    Narrated by Jeed Saddy

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    The haunting story of a family of dreamers and tale-tellers looking for home in an unwelcoming world.

    Firuzeh and her brother Nour are children of fire, born in an Afghanistan fractured by war. When their parents, their Atay and Abay, decide to leave, they spin tales of their destination, the mythical land and opportunities of Australia. As the family journeys from Pakistan to Indonesia
    to Nauru, heading toward a hope of home, they must rely on fragile and temporary shelters, strangers both mercenary and kind, and friends who vanish as quickly as they’re found.

    When they arrive in Australia, a seemingly stable shore gives way to treacherous currents. Neighbors, classmates, and the government seek their own ends, indifferent to the family’s fate. For Firuzeh, her fantasy worlds provide some relief, but as her family and home splinter, she
    must surface from these imaginings and find a new way.

    This exquisite and unusual magic realist debut, told in intensely lyrical prose by an award-winning author, traces one girl’s migration from war to peace, loss to loss, hope to home.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateJun 6, 2023
    ISBN9781705098080
    Author

    E. Lily Yu

    E. Lily Yu is the author of On Fragile Waves, which won the 2022 Washington Book Award for Fiction, and Jewel Box, forthcoming in October 2023. Over thirty of her short stories have appeared in venues from McSweeney's to Tor.com.

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    Reviews for On Fragile Waves

    4/5

    15 ratings3 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Mostly told from the viewpoint of pre-teen Firuzeh, we follow her Afghan family through their halting escape to the island refugee prison maintained by Australia. The long detention is followed by a difficult time in Melbourne where all the bitterness of their limited life finally surfaces for her parents. This can't be close to the worst that refugees from the war torn regions suffer but it make it seem miraculous that any functioning human beings emerge from such hell.
    • 4/5
      On Fragile Waves by E Lily Yu is a novel about Afghani refugees making their way to Australia, with overtones of magical realism. It follows a family as they journey in a dangerous boat and spend time on Nauru, in one of Australia’s off-shore detention centres.My one hesitation when deciding to read this book was that the author was American. But On Fragile Waves reads as impeccably researched. It follows a family, from the point of the daughter aged around 10, as a lot of terrible things happen to them during their journey and after. If you know anything about Australia’s offshore detention system, you’ll expect this to be a pretty bleak book, and it is. Moments of darkness are interspersed with Firuzeh telling stories to herself and to her younger brother. Those stories and Firuzeh’s memories of a friend she made on the way provide the fantastical element that put this book on my radar (that and the author). But mostly the book is set in the real world, and the harsh reality of being a refugee doesn’t end just because they reach Australia. This was a moving read and I recommend it to anyone that isn’t explicitly looking for a light and fluffy read. It’s a book that deals with racism and trauma and even though it’s not long, I didn’t find it to be a quick read.4 / 5 starsYou can read more of my reviews on my blog.
    • 4/5
      Born into a family of storytellers and dreamers, Firuzeh and Nour. Born in Afghanistan, they follow their parents as they move from Pakistan to Indonesia to Nauru. Always hoping, always storytelling, the family finally settles in Australia. But their new homeland is not the welcoming place they hoped it would be. Neighbors, classmates, and the government make it challenging. Firuzeh’s fantasy dreams of the perfect life shatter and she is forced to find her way in the real world. It took me a while to figure out which family member was telling the story as I moved from chapter to chapter, but the pattern became clear for person’s voice. Once the reader understands the rhythm of the writing, On Fragile Wings is a strong, poetic story about the search for hope even when things around you are fracturing.