A Woman Is No Man

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. Isra finds escape in books, particularly One Thousand and One Nights. What books have served as a refuge for you during difficult times, and what made them comforting?

2. When have you witnessed the transformative power of breaking silence about difficult truths, either in your own life or in someone else’s?

3. Sarah tells Deya that making difficult choices now can lead to future happiness. Think about a time when you made a challenging decision. Do you feel it led to personal growth in the long run?

4. How does the work’s depiction of marriage and family roles compare to your own views? What factors, cultural or otherwise, have shaped your attitude?

5. Have you experienced tension between honoring family traditions and establishing your own identity? If so, how did you navigate it? Similarly, how have you responded to external social or cultural pressures that conflicted with your personal desires?

Examine the book's relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. The novel is set partly in post-9/11 America, with Deya experiencing prejudice while wearing her hijab. What can be done to mitigate such prejudices?

2. Rum portrays a community that remains culturally isolated within America. What advantages and disadvantages does insularity create for immigrant families?

3. What factors lead women like Fareeda to enforce patriarchal traditions that have personally harmed them?

Examine technical and thematic elements.

1. What do books symbolize for different characters throughout the novel?

2. Analyze how the meaning of the title evolves as the narrative progresses.

3. Fareeda both enforces oppressive traditions and occasionally resists them. How does her internal conflict compare to those of similar characters in literature, such as the grandmother in Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns?

4. Compare the mother-daughter relationships presented in the novel. What purpose does their juxtaposition serve?

5. The concept of “voice” appears throughout the narrative. Why is this motif so central to the story?

6. How do physical settings in the novel reflect the characters’ emotional and psychological states?