Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq

Reading Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq—the winner of the International Booker Prize 2025—was, I'm not going to lie, a frustrating experience.

This is a collection of short stories about oppressed Muslim women, many of whom are trapped in painful, inhumane relationships, mostly with their husbands. What broke me was the fact that so many of these women had no way out. No choice. Their circumstances, their communities, and the world around them offered little to no support.

Reading about their lives burned. It made me angry. It made me feel helpless. 

But maybe that’s what this book is meant to do—hold up a mirror, make us feel the injustice, and help us understand what these women go through every day. Maybe if more people read these stories, things can change. Awareness is the first step. Empathy is next.

Another thing that stood out to me was the writing itself. The book is translated from Kannada, and since I lived in a Kannada-speaking city for more than a decade, the language felt familiar. The words came across like hearing a voice, you know. The “Kannada English” had a rhythm I recognized. It made the stories feel even more personal.

Have you read the book?