Customer Reviews

Beyond the Cayenne Wall: Collection of Short Stories

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Beyond the Cayenne Wall takes the reader to a foreign land, yet you walk on the familiar ground of the human condition and marvel at the resilience of womankind.

Long after you close each chapter, the wording and stories linger among your repertoire of feelings playing haunting and memorable melodies of souls in complexities.

Poignant, yet a delighting read. You will be glad you went beyond the cayenne wall.

Beyond The Cayenne Wall tells 7 short stories of women we think we've seen, but never really heard about. Shaila Abdullah introduces us to Pakistani society on a number of levels. She tells stories about urban women, rural women, pampered women, hardscrabble women, educated women. Ms. Abdullah uses simple but powerful imagery interspersed with Urdu to generate the inclusive quality of "being there". At the root of the stories are the cultural burdens women bear. Although the setting appears exclusively eastern, oddly enough, the struggles, disappointments, joys, and sorrows of these women transcend borders. Pending marriage, difficult conception, in-laws, and tradition are issues we can all relate to, and doing so through the prism of eastern culture only makes us richer for it.

I truly enjoyed this collection of short stories, and devoured them in one setting. Reading about the determination of Tannu, the fierce protectiveness of Dhool, the revelation of Minnah, the stoicism of Shiwali, the persistence and horrible discovery of Minal, the grief of Mansi, and the redemption of Nyassa brought all of this into sharp relief. In today's climate, we often see the eastern world against the backdrop of war and conflict. We never see the more mundane aspects of everyday life that fuel so much of the other. What I appreciated most was the view into everyday life that tends to be overshadowed and outright forgotten in today's political climate.

Although the women are not always successful, they are always triumphant. Even when circumstance conspires against them, and fortune turns its back, each of these women demands and receives small victories. Be it the mockery of a quickly hidden glance, the silence of hidden passion, the damning knowledge of a bully's frailty, each story illustrates that sometimes the best part of victory is-modesty. It has not been since college that I remembered reading about feminism around the world. Sometimes, it is very easy to believe that our kind of feminism is the only kind. Feminism isn't only about working outside the home and sitting in front of the classroom. Sometimes, its as much about what is still going on inside the home, and what kind of classroom. Sometimes it is about bouncing back as opposed to striking first. I think these stories make an excellent addition to any woman's library, and I heartily recommend them.

Reviewed By: Angela Hailey, Black Butterfly Review

This summer, I ordered Beyond the Cayenne Wall, a collection of short stories by Shaila Abdullah, from Amazon. Although you don't typically find short fiction on summer reading lists, short stories are perfect for a morning at the beach, or an evening on the porch. My problem with short stories is that I tend to race through them, one right after the next. I finished reading Beyond the Cayenne Wall all too quickly, and longed for another story.

In Beyond the Cayenne Wall, Shaila Abdullah presents short stories about the often tumultuous lives of young women in Karachi, Pakistan. She brings Pakistan's largest city to life with shimmering, descriptive prose, and even includes a glossary of Urdu words used in the book. These stories are not for the faint-of-heart. Each story is poignant and gives us an intimate look into the hearts and minds of seven Pakistani women:

~Tannu, who's not allowed to seek work outside of the house, because she's seen as a "prized cow", an "incubator" for prospective offspring, but who fails to conceive.

~Dhool, who's married to a man willing to allow his eleven-year-old daughter to get married to a rich old man.

~Minnah, on the brink of marriage, who worries greatly about the secret she carries in her heart.

~Shiwali, who's just going through the motions out of duty in a loveless marriage.

~Siham, who wants to know the truth about her biological family, especially her father.

~Mansi, who brings her aging mother from Pakistan to Texas to live with her.

~Nyssa, who fears she will have to give back her beloved child, Vera.


Although these stories are fictional, they're based on the traditional way of life in Pakistan, which includes arranged marriages and limited roles for women. After reading this absorbing collection of short stories, I found myself grateful for the many freedoms I enjoy, and too often take for granted.

These haunting stories will remain in my heart and mind for years to come. I highly recommend them, as well as Shaila Abdullah's award-winning novel, Saffron Dreams.

Please stop by Suko's Notebook for an exclusive interview with the author, Shaila Abdullah.

*Excerpt Only*

I appreciated the chance to download this e-book (excerpt) from the author in exchange for signing up for her newsletter. I had not read any of her material before.

The story is an interesting one and I would certainly like to read the book in its entirety.

That being said; I did feel there is (way) too much flourish being used in the English language with this work. Far too many descriptions, metaphors; too much attention to embellishment. It served as quite a distraction to me. I definitely feel style could use some improvement; particularly in this regard.

Again, however, the story is an interesting one full of raw emotion and begs to elicit compassion from its readers. A full scope of human tragedy is laid out before us and we all become sympathizers.

Rebeccasreads highly recommends BEYOND THE CAYENNE WALL as a beautifully written although very hard to read collection of stories that will keep you totally absorbed.

While its cover image may intimate things exotic, soft & gentle, all the stories are raw & unbridled in how they get to the core of these women's emotions & how their cultures' traditions chafe on their hearts & souls.

The descriptions of the land these women love are luminous & yet we quickly become privy to the terrible culture clashes & the despair & sheer brutality of their everyday lives.

Beyond The Cayenne Wall is the highly personal and deeply intimate collection of author Shaila Abdullah's conceptual short-stories. Abdullah presents the cultural chasm between the east and the west with her intuitive writings of individuals finding themselves despite their socially set barriers that they inspirationally overcome throughout the eye-opening stories of fate, alienation and solitude. Beyond The Cayenne Wall is a superb read for students of literature, culture and sociology because of its deftly written engagement into the world and life of the alienated foreigner.

The seven stories comprising Shaila Abdullah's Beyond the Cayenne Wall are very consistently written and virtually dripping with poignancy. Ms. Abdullah describes the personal tragedies and conundrums faced by Pakistani women living in a very repressive society. The author has created fictional scenarios based on her real experiences and those of other Pakistani women she has known in the town of Karachi. From her current residence in Austin, Texas, Shaila gives the reader a ride in the front row seat of the emotional rollercoaster reflecting the plight of many Pakistanis. The text contains numerous mentions of food items common in Pakistan, and a convenient glossary has been included in the back of the book. With its cover graphics created by the author, Beyond the Cayenne Wall presents a nice, touching, professional introduction to the author's home culture.

Although it is an exquisite little package, Cayenne Wall leaves a bit to be desired in its proofreading. The typo count is far too high to honestly earn five stars in a review. If the book had contained four-hundred pages, the comma omissions, etc., would have been acceptable, but anyone should be able to present a clean product of one-fourth that size.

Aside from the typos, Beyond the Cayenne Wall is an outstanding first book from a new author. The stories are carefully composed and memorable in style. The individual predicaments these characters find themselves in will stay with you long after you have finished reading this short book. These women were each backed into a corner by an unrelenting culture in a land of familiarity to the author. Shaila Abdullah has definitely done her homework in the accurate cultural translation of reality into fiction.