Springcleaning – Book 4 “Consumed” by Arifa Akbar

I very much enjoy biographies and memoirs about unusual childhoods or families. Consumed by Arifa Akbar is a memoir of the author’s sister Fauzia who was an artist but who died of undiagnosed TB. I have no idea where I got this book from (some books hang around my to-be-read pile for so long that I lose track of their origin). It seems in excellent condition and I may have purchased it new.

The author’s parents came to UK from Pakistan after an arranged marriage. The move was not as successful as they had hoped and the relationship was troubled from the start, especially because of bullying by the paternal family against the new bride. Fauzia bore the brunt of her father’s dissatisfaction and was systematically emotionally abused for the whole of her childhood – she was picked on and treated as a scapegoat whilst the author and her brother experienced her father’s love and acceptance in a way that was not available to their older sister. The mother was unable to leave or access help in the UK, mostly because of her lack of English and her isolation.

Fauzia grew up mentally affected by this ill treatment and developed a severe eating disorder and a mental health condition which seems to have been bipolar or possibly a borderline personality disorder. She started things but never finished them and was estranged from her sister for many years. She was, however, an artist and following her death the author used her art and what she knew of her life to try and understand her sister. Much of the artwork is reproduced in this book.

This is a book of silences. The author has no full explanation of why her father treated her sister so badly and why no one was able to stop him. She doesn’t really go into her sister’s mental anguish but mentions in passing that she was sectioned on occasion. It is obvious that Fauzia is often loud, inappropriate and violent in her hospital environment and possibly elsewhere – there are arguments with neighbours that have distressed Fauzia but the social landlords seem to have taken the side of the neighbours. Although the author meets many people in Fauzia’s past she doesn’t explore this in any detail although it upset her sister and the anxiety may have worsened her final illness. It is obvious to the family that the TB should have been identified earlier when it could have been successfully treated and there seems to be no real reason why it isn’t, although Fauzia may not have cooperated. We get no understanding of the family’s experience in the UK as immigrants and if that affected Fauzia in any way.

The author admits that she had not had contact with her sister for a long time until just before she died so this book and her exploration of her sister’s life seem to be designed to fill in some of the gaps in her knowledge. She researches TB in life and literature, visits Shelley’s grave in Rome, goes to operas that seem relevant and then tries to find her sister’s meaning in the remaining artwork.

This is an interesting memoir but the silences are frustrating. Years of her sister’s life are passed over with the author seeming to have no real idea what Fauzia did or how she felt. The author has interpreted some of the artwork but without Fauzia’s voice we cannot know whether she is correct. The artwork is the only voice that Fauzia has in this memoir as there seem to be no letters or diaries with the exception of a few text messages, one of which the author misunderstands and which causes a new rift with her sister. As a story about grief and regret, however, it is excellent as the author outlines the journey that she takes to try and understand her sister’s life and seemingly preventable death.

I have added this book to my shelf of similar biographies where it fits nicely. One day I might want to revisits it.