Title: A Very Large Expanse of Sea Author: Tahereh Mafi
Published: October 16, 2018
Genre(s): Realistic/Contemporary
Page Count: 310
Rating:
Summary from Goodreads:It’s 2002, a year after 9/11. It’s an extremely turbulent time politically, but especially so for someone like Shirin, a sixteen-year-old Muslim girl who’s tired of being stereotyped.
Shirin is never surprised by how horrible people can be. She’s tired of the rude stares, the degrading comments—even the physical violence—she endures as a result of her race, her religion, and the hijab she wears every day. So she’s built up protective walls and refuses to let anyone close enough to hurt her. Instead, she drowns her frustrations in music and spends her afternoons break-dancing with her brother.
But then she meets Ocean James. He’s the first person in forever who really seems to want to get to know Shirin. It terrifies her—they seem to come from two irreconcilable worlds—and Shirin has had her guard up for so long that she’s not sure she’ll ever be able to let it down.
Tahereh Mafi is most well-known for her YA dystopia-paranormal-romance “trilogy,” the Shatter Me series. (Note that I use the Douglas Adams definition of trilogies here.) I remember Mafi’s books fondly from high school, back when the “pretty dress” dystopias dominated the young adult market. Though admittedly not for everyone, her writing style is a gorgeous fusion of intense emotion and rich metaphorical imagery.
A Very Large Expanse of Sea is in many ways a massive departure from the author’s prior YA writing. This standalone novel is neither a dystopia nor a paranormal romance. Rather, it’s contemporary (historical?) fiction set in 2002, after the September 11 terrorist attack but prior to the US invasion of Iraq. Yet in spite of its apparent differences, this story still feels like Tahereh Mafi at her best.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that Shirin’s story is the most emotionally charged thing I’ve ever read. A Very Large Expanse of Sea is devastating. The pain and insecurity and thrill of being 16 is present in every scene, every sentence. Trying to survive as a hijabi in a small town American high school may not be a universal experience, but the raw feeling conveyed by Shirin’s introspective first person narration isn’t difficult to understand.
This book is, I believe, at least partially autobiographical. I’m not interested in speculating as to which specific events Mafi experienced firsthand, but I do think this novel very clearly comes from a personal place. It’s not a feel-good book, yet neither is it sensationalized tragedy porn. This is a difficult line to walk, particularly when so much of Shirin’s personal growth is shadowed by an islamophobia that frequently becomes physically violent. Mafi knows just how to temper the darkness with (bittersweet) joy. There’s a realistic yet reassuring “this really sucks, but some things in life are still good” theme throughout the text that keeps both Shirin and the reader from total despair.
And of course, A Very Large Expanse of Sea is, first and foremost, a love story. As strongly as Shirin built walls to protect her sense of self, she failed to account for a boy like Ocean. He’s a picture-perfect white American jock/homecoming king/class president, but his emotions are so, so soft and vulnerable. He’s absolutely smitten with Shirin, and he doesn’t care who knows it. Ocean’s uncomplicated and unguarded love is an excellent counterbalance to Shirin’s prickly defenses. And honestly, Ocean is the kind of love interest that destroys the hearts of readers everywhere (myself included). Don’t we all yearn to meet someone who finds the bits of ourselves that society hates most to be wholly loveable?
A Very Large Expanse of Sea is not a “happily ever after” love story. (Neither is an “everybody dies at the end” love story either.) One one hand, I do find myself Deeply Displeased. The knowledge that two people have overcome great hardship and now get to enjoy happiness together is highly satisfying. On the other hand, I understand that this is how Shirin’s story had to go. If the theme is that awfulness is everywhere, but you can always find contentment in the space between heartbreaks, then Mafi cannot promise Shirin perpetual happiness with Ocean, freedom from bigotry, and family stability in a pretty box.
A Very Large Expanse of Sea is a devastatingly romantic novel fueled by pure, complicated, messy emotions. There are high highs and very low lows, but every bit is worth reading.
