There is beauty in the way Azizah portrays her characters with a sense of realness and humour in the face of pain and despair.
Written as a sort of memoir, A Sackful of Wishes is a tragic telling of a life through the eyes of young Hadiza Musa. It takes us through her turbulent married life, her husband Abdulrazaq Zanna, her childhood and the jaded cynicism that comes with experience. At a young age, she marries Abdulrazaq known as AR. AR is not an easy man to love. Within few weeks of meeting each other, she is aggravated by his mood swings, yet something about AR holds her. He is a man of many layers, yet his love for Hadiza cannot be denied, which leads to her making countless excuses for his behaviours. Hadiza had grown up with a twisted sense of what is expected of a wife just as AR is shown to have also grown up emotionally abused through the actions of his parents. AR continues to profess undying love for her, even after raping her on their wedding night. She tries to persevere, hoping he changes, even as countless tragedies befall her from the death of her father, to her son and even her unborn child.
The first few chapters are slow and unengaging, yet, further in, the story picks up pace, pulling you in.
Azizah’s use of indigenous slangs, and the way time is not wasted in translation gives the book a more refreshing outlook. There is beauty in the way Azizah portrays her characters with a sense of realness and humour in the face of pain and despair. Even at his worst, AR retains a sense of humanity. Young and inexperienced, Hadiza has no other comparison to her relationship than her mother’s emotionally abusive relationship with her father. Sliding deeper into AR’s web, she didn’t notice the helping hands of her dearest relatives until it was almost too late.
Book: A Sackful of Wishes
Author: Azizah Idris M
Publisher: Origami
The reviewer, Habiba Malumfashi has her bio in the members’ profile section
