4/5 stars.
ebook, 190 pages.
Read from January 29, 2020 to February 1, 2020.
Whoop whoop! First book into the Canada Reads 2020 and its started out with a bang. This year Canada Reads brings one collection of novellas, two memoirs, and two pieces of fiction. I started with We Have Always Been Here which is one of the two memoirs heading into the debates. We Have Always Been Here will be defended by Amanda Brugel during the debates taking place from March 16-19th.
Samra spent her childhood years growing up in Pakistan in fear of religious persecution as well as the threat of a highly patriarchal society that stifled her and her family. After being sexually assaulted by a family friend her life became even more restricted. From a young age Samra had a fire in her that couldn’t be put out no matter what was thrown at her. When violence started to escalate her family was thankfully able to pack up and flee to Canada to safety. Samra and her family found themselves in a new home where they were not as affluent as they were in Pakistan. Samra struggled as a new immigrant at school and even more so with her identity as she struggled between her conservative family values and a country with a new way of life that she found immensely appealing. Samra is married and divorced, twice, before the age of 25 and goes on an exploratory journey with her own sexuality as she realises her own queerness. Still, Samra is drawn to her religion and needs to find a new way to connect with her church and her family as she blooms into her true self.
How do you find yourself when the world tells you that you don’t exist?
Samra Habib
Samra is now an advocate for the queer Muslim community with her writing and photography to help highlight and bring light to queer Muslims who have been in her situation. Samra’s writing is frank and engaging as she details the story of her life without asking for sympathy. Her journey is an empowering one and one that I didn’t want to put down. Samra embraces her queerness, femininity, and religion with grace and strength and I thoroughly enjoyed reading her memoir.
Is this the one book to bring Canada into focus? While this is an immensely important topic we will have to wait and see what the other books bring to the table to the debates.
The Pluviophile Writer 
Great idea to focus in on a given countries literature. Despite reading quite a lot I guess nearly all the books I read are from a narrow range of countries.
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That’s one of the reasons I committed to read all the Canada Reads shortlist books every year as it helps me read books I may not have normally picked up. Canadian literature doesn’t get enough credit. It’s such a diverse country with so many unique perspectives. I’ve also considered making a challenge to read a certain amount of books from author’s of different or lesser known countries.
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That’s a good idea. I’m sure if people read more (any!) Middle East fiction for example we might see a little more perspective in some of our public conversations
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