The Hands of the Women in My Family Were Not for Writing

At the center of the book by Eganā Jabbarova is the body of a young woman, the existence of which is, on one hand, regulated by the strict rules of a patriarchal Azerbaijani family and community, and on the other, is subjected to a neurological disease that causes severe pain and robs her of speech. In a methodical manner, addressing each part of the body, the writer uncovers layers of memories, traditions, practices, prohibitions, and prescriptions, linking them to the most personal, fundamental, and inevitable aspect of human existence: the physical shell. Perhaps, in the end, the disease not only limits and deprives but also provides a key to liberation?

The stories of several generations of women, belonging and otherness, disobedience and survival, a legacy that one does not choose, and how to live with it in such coordinates are explored in the debut prose book by Eganā Jabbarova.