A review by natashaleighton_
The Coin by Yasmin Zaher

challenging dark emotional reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Yasmin Zaher’s breathtakingly pacey debut, about a nameless Palestinian woman who immigrates to New York to teach, only to descend into a cycle of compulsive cleanliness (whilst simultaneously getting caught up in an illegal, Birkin reselling scheme) was both captivating and utterly unputdownable! 

Expertly exploring the issues of race, class, inter-generational trauma and consumerism. Zaher’s lush prose lays bare the harsh realities of modern society and its often contradictory nature. Summed up perfectly by the narrators’ experiences of New York City (which appears not as not a glitzy, glamorous utopia but a dirt filled and poverty ridden city that has our narrator concluding The American Dream is well and truly dead, if it ever existed at all.) 

We never do find out the name of our protagonist—who recounts her daily life to us in short, surreal, journal-esque chapters. But I kind of liked that and felt it made her stream of consciousness-style narrative waay more compelling than I expected, building a strange sense of intimacy that had me both eager to see what would happen next.

I do want to say, that this is a book that needs to be read to be truly appreciated, and will probably not appeal to everyone. However, it’s messy, chaotic and complex look at mundane life; through the bleak humour of our isolated (and increasingly unreliable) narrator —will have literary lovers and fans of Ottessa Moshfegh utterly hooked. 

If this isn’t already on your radar then I really feel it should be (especially if you love literary fiction) cause I can totally see this popping up on all the fiction award and must read lists in the near future. I do, however, advise checking the TWs first. 

Also a huge thank you to Rachel Quin and Footnote Press for the finished copy. 
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