Really well written, wonderful characterisation and descriptions of a different culture as 3 women from one family are drawn back together by a family death. It took me quite a while to get into this but the strands came together and it was a very interesting read.

I wasn't sure about this book for the first 30 or 40%. I wasn't very keen on the main characters and having worked in wealth management for forty years it wasn't something that I wanted to read it about now that I am retired. But the story picked up around the halfway mark (!!) and I thought the ending was very good. Having the glossary open on my iPad and reading on my kindle made it easier to check the things I wanted to check but I just read through a lot of the foreign language as the context as mostly clear and a direct translation not really needed. It certainly added to the feeling of diaspora and not quite fitting in. With thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read and review this title.

A beautifully written debut novel about two sisters Nasrin and Sabrina, but so much more than that.
I really enjoyed this book. I liked the use of Sylheti language with the glossary at the back for reference. The writing is just superb. The story completely drew me in and I couldn’t put it down. It has great character descriptions throughout. The cover is also beautiful and really catches your eye.
Definitely recommend reading for those who enjoy strong family drama, different cultures and beliefs.
Thanks to #NetGallery #HQStories #NiloparUddin for an arc of #TheHalfways in exchange for an honest review.

First of all, the cover is gorgeous - really catches the eye and I think a lot of people will see it and go 'ooh!' when they spot it on a bookshelf.

The Halfways is a family saga in a way I wasn't expecting when I started the story - the blurb tells us it's a tale of 2 sisters, but to me it was so much more than that. The story is told very eloquently and easily incorporates complex themes of family ties, belonging, fitting in, grief, secrets, heartbreak and how relationships develop and grow over time.

The author does not shy away from conflict and we get to see how complicated feelings and expectations can be (from family, friends and the wider community as a whole) and the influence this can have on behaviour (both positively and negatively). There is clever use of flashbacks throughout for different characters, which helped to build the story and explain their perspective/reasoning. We see that everyone is flawed and everyone struggles at times and there are rivalries, tragedies, comedies and successes along the way. I thought this made the story very real and the characters more rounded and believable.

There is a lot going on through the course of the book, which the author handles deftly split between Wales, London and New York and some of the memories/flashbacks in Desh. There is a lot of reference to Bangladeshi culture and phrases/terms that were unfamiliar to me but this didn't detract at all from the story and I understood the gist of what was being used/said (I read this on kindle so didn't see the glossary until I'd finished, it will be much easier for readers to reference in a hard copy) .

The one downside for me was because there was so much going on, there were parts I would have liked explored further that just had a light touch instead - Nasrin's relationship with her Australian husband Richard, Sabrina and her colleague Ashok, Afroz and her husband Humayun (and his mother).

The ending was handled well and we get to see a little more from Elias' perspective, which I think helped the story feel rounded - we have seen past and present, then also a glimpse of the future.

This was an absorbing and engaging read and I highly recommend.

Sisters and cousins are brought together by the untimely dear of their father and uncle in a small town in mid Wales. This story is a wonderful exploration of the lives of a family lived between 2 very different cultures. I enjoyed the characters, the culture and the surprises along the way. One of my favourite reads this year.

Free Courtesy of Netgalley

It took me a while to get into this book, as there is a lot of Bengali language within it, with no explanation of what these words mean (Glossary is in the back, which doesn't help if you're on a Kindle reading it.), After a while when you get used to the rhythm of the words, they start making sense, and the story flows better with it in. It is an emotional story of cultural divides by being brought up in different countries, even though the main characters are all from Bangladesh originally.

The story takes place in 3 countries, Bangladesh, Wales and America. Each girl is living in one of these places. The two sisters were brought up in the Brecons, by their parents, and was raised to be quite western in their ways, but they visited family in Bangladesh every summer, where they would play with their cousin.

Fast forward to when they are grown ups, and Nasrin and Sabrina's father passes away, they all make their way to Wales to be with their mother for the funeral. When the will is read out secrets are revealed, turning everyone's lives upside down.

It is amazing how different cultures are crossed and give me an insight into how the culture is in Bangladesh. I would recommend this book

The Halfways is quite unlike any book I've read before. The author didn't hold back on the Bangladeshi dialect and culture references and why shouldn't she to be honest, and although I didn't fully understand it all I did appreciate it, if that makes sense?
I read via netgalley so on my phone and as I got to the end there's a dictionary explaining every word used which will be beneficial for those reading in book form I'm sure. Luckily for me I enjoyed the read regardless.

Quite a chunky one too, I did feel it went on a bit but fortunately it was not lacking in depth and I found myself quite engrossed in the Islam's family dramas. I liked how there was a shocker towards the end of the book but I thought it could have been written in a bit better for dramatic purposes, explored a bit more.

Overall The Halways for me was a very enjoyable, interesting and different read and I loved my time with them.
Perfect for those who like a good strong family drama and are interested in different cultures and beliefs.

A strong family drama. When Shamsur dies suddenly, his will causes trauma for his family, especially his two daughters, Nasrin and Sabrina. Despite the many cultural and language references that I didn't always understand, this was a good read.

Delighted to receive a copy of this ARC from Harper Collins via NetGalley. I was nervous to read as this is first book I’ve ever read where I have known the author IRL. We have worked together some years ago. I was afraid I wasn’t going to like the book and worried about how I’d say nice things about it in my review.

But I’m glad to say that this is one of a handful of books this year that has kept me up late at night, eager to see how the story develops. The one downside is that there was so much going on, that some parts were relegated to mere sentences when I’d happily have read chapters (eg Nasrin and her husband).

As I finished and tried to write this review, I did wonder how to summarise it. Is it Nasrin’s story or Sabrina’s, or is it Afroz’s and Amma’s. The blurb says it is about two sisters, but it is so much more. This is an epic where I’d happily have read more detail about each of them. It’s a family story which very effectively embeds stories within stories to fill us in on family history back in time - I read on a kindle device so will be interesting to see how these are printed in the hardback. The family come from Bangladesh, with the parents settling in Wales and children in London and New York.

The ethnic origin of the family is a large element of the book and the first chapter did make me wonder if I’d make it further as there were a lot of language, religious and cultural references that I didn’t get. But as I read further, I felt context helped a lot and it was fine. It was only when I got to the very end, I saw there was a helpful glossary (paper books are much more helpful in this regard).

There are great character descriptions throughout the book and you do feel like you get to know the characters well. There is a lot going on in the story too, so this combination of lots of story and lots of characters ensures the book is packed with interest and you want to continue to read.

Overall, I would highly recommend. I thought the ending was well done as we see snippets of Elias’s future. It reminds me of “This is US” tv drama, where you see past, present and future all together and leaves you very satisfied.

@netgalley @NiloparUddin #TheHalfways @HQstories

Nasrin and Sabrina have grown up around their family's restaurant in Wales, at the heart of a close knit Sylheti family that has maintained strong ties with their homeland and their extended family. Well-educated and independent, the two girls have settled in the city, Nasrin with her Australian husband and their young son in London, and Sabrina in New York. When their father dies suddenly, the family is plunged into turmoil, not only through grief, but because a long-buried family secret is revealed by the legacies in his will.
The characters in the novel leap off the page, with complex emotions and thoroughly credible behaviour. The return of childhood epilepsy, the re-emergence of attachments and rivalries, and the stresses of everyday relationships combine in a portrait of a family whose fate the reader cares about as they each member of the wider family deals with their grief. The action and our empathy is carefully balanced, as the plot moves forward in the present of the novel between the restaurant, London, New York and Bangladesh, and flashes back to the childhood not only of the sisters but their parents. I loved this book - I can't buy it for my library, as it is in a primary school - but I will encourage all my friends to read it and recommend it to my book group. I hope that there is more to come from this hugely talented author.

This is a beautifully descriptive story of three women, Nasrin, Sabrina and Ashok, who live over three continents and are struggling with cultural and family identity. Their lives become more complicated after the death of Nasrin' and Sabrina's father and they discover a massive family secret.

I found this a little  hard to get into at first as it is quite detailed and there are a lot of references to Bangladesh culture and words/religious terms that I am not familar with, but it was interesting to look these up in the gloassary at the back. As the story progressed I was drawn quickly into the dilemmas  facing each of the main characters as their pasts start to unravel.

An interesting and thought-provoking read. Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC copy of this book.

First I loved the cover if this book it’s was beautiful and matched the beautifully written prose. This book was heartwarming and heartbreaking in equal measures. The characters are well developed and written in a manner that makes them come alive. It is a family saga full of ups and downs that will keep reading long after bedtime

Thanks for the ARC it was much enjoyed

The Halfways is a story that at it's very core is about family, culture and belonging. Mostly it's about the difficult difficult intersection that can sometimes exist between those things.

This story is beautifully told, emotional, gripping and wonderfully cathartic. The characters brought to life in this novel are so incredibly human. Equal parts frustrating and sympathetic, flawed and strong, full of spite and love and everything in between. This story is almost entirely character driven and as such lives and dies on his characters and personally I enjoyed every moment I spent with them.

The theme of family was also beautifully explored in this novel especially that of sisterhood and motherhood. It never shies away from the complexities of family relationships and instead embraces them and how families can learn to forgive and navigate new waters. And also how feeling angry at loved ones especially in grief is such a normal emotion and something many grapple with.

I really enjoyed the exploration of home and belonging in this book. The Halfways is the perfect title for characters that have an uneasy relationship between the place they live and the community they belong to and how those two things can clash but also how those two things can be reconciled. I think struggling to know where we fit in this world.is something many of us can relate to a Uddin really brought that struggle to life.

There are some difficult topics in this book but I felt all were necessary for the telling of the story and nothing is glorified. A human story contains tragedy and that is what is represented here. See Goodreads for some content warnings.

In summary this is just such a layered, moving and engaging read which I wholeheartedly recommend.

I found this book pure escapism which I think was the feeling I had when I saw the cover for the first time! Absolutely beautiful!
But I also love books with family and relationships at the heart of the story and you are definitely swept away as the reader wondering how you might feel in the situations of the characters as an unexpected event turns their lives upside down. I loved the fact the story was set in different places; London, New York, Wales and Bangladesh and set both in the past and the present allowing the reader to relive the history of the family in this engrossing read. Highly recommended, I really enjoyed it. Thank you so much to NetGalley and HQ Stories for the opportunity to read an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I just want to say how beautiful the cover of this book is, it really gives off those Summer vibes. I feel as though this book is going to be a big hit when it is released, and for it to be a debut novel too just blew me away. The writing is superb and really puts the reader at the heart of the story and pulls on their heart strings with the way the story unfolds. It is about two sisters who have a good life living in London and New York, until one day some dreadful happens to their father and they have to rush back to the their family home in Wales. But the sisters are reluctant to return and then things change when important documents come to light, can the sisters sort it all out? I found it an interesting and poignant story about family ties and belonging. I also thought about the story when I was not reading it and wondered what I would do if I was part of that family. Such a great read and I look forward to seeing what Nilopar the author writes about next.

Moving between London, Wales, New York and Bangladesh, this is an epic family drama that spans over four decades. A story of mothers and daughters, of fathers and daughters, of sisterhood. A beautiful cover and an amazing storyline. Absolutely brilliant… I just wish I could give it more than five stars! Got me from page one and I couldn’t stop reading till I found out how it would end!