Boob Blurb: A powerful, unflinching exploration of millennial unrest in an unpredictable world.
Sophia feels stifled in a society eager to define her—by her faith, her sexuality, her ambition, her value. Searching for meaning, she dives headfirst into a maze of impulsive choices throughout her twenties. As she drifts from city to city, she tries to reconcile a crumbling past with an uncertain present, but every step forward leaves disruption in its trail.
Sharp-witted and unsettled, Sophia grapples with the slow collapse of her parents’ marriage—an intimate echo of the broader political fractures shaking twenty-first-century India. Woven through this journey is her charged, complicated friendship with Medha, a queer artist facing her own battles. Set against the backdrop of the #MeToo movement, the 2020 Delhi riots, and a global pandemic, their relationship becomes a mirror to the wider unrest.
In a world where detachment becomes a coping mechanism, how does one find connection? How do you belong when you’re estranged even from yourself? No Place to Call My Own captures the dislocation of a generation—of young women standing at the crossroads, refusing to conform, caught between identities, and searching for a place to land.
Review: I read a lot but rarely do I connect with a character in such a way where I want to physically comfort them—hold them, sit with them in silence, or even give them a bit of a shake. I felt such emotions for Ove in A Man Called Ove and with Eleanor in Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine. Alina Gufran’s No Place to Call My Own, brought out those feelings. I found myself aching for Sophia, the main character. I wanted to sit beside her, listen without judgement, and let her know: you’re not alone, it will be okay—maybe not today, but eventually.
Sophia is a young woman, born to a Hindu mother and Muslim father. The product of a dysfunctional family, the burden of a layered identity follows her through different cities, failed relationships, creative burnout, and a kind of aimless drifting. She’s not easy to pin down—complicated, moody, sometimes detached—but that’s what made her feel so real to me. She’s not written to be likeable, and that’s what I liked about her.
The writing is in a stream-of-consciousness style, which adds intimacy to the narration. I felt as I was inside Sophia’s mind the whole time. The chapters are tied to the cities she lives in, which I thought was a clever way to structure a life that’s falling apart and trying to hold itself together at the same time.
Written in a stream-of-consciousness style, Gufran’s voice is raw and honest. The narrative is structured along the lines of cities where Sophia is in at that moment.
The fragmented structure does not follow a clearly defined path, reflecting Sophia’s unpredictable and unmoored life, and it worked both ways for me. I liked not knowing where I was heading, but was also confused. Probably, that was the author’s intent!
This book doesn’t try to fix its character or offer tidy resolutions. Instead, it lingers in the discomfort, the questions, the quiet exhaustion of trying to be an artist and a woman in a world that keeps demanding definitions. And in that, it felt oddly comforting.
If you’re looking for a fast-paced, plot-heavy read, this isn’t it. But if you’ve ever felt a little untethered or asked yourself “where do I really belong?”, you might find a bit of yourself in these pages.
No Place To Call My Own is real, raw, and quietly devastating. It is a bold and emotional exploration of identity and belonging. It is not an easy read but it is realistic, unconventional, and raises important questions about who we are, where we come from, and what we run from.
Rating: 5/5
Review author: Chandra Sundeep is an author, blogger, and book reviewer. Her short stories have been featured in various anthologies, online portals, and literary magazines. In 2023, she received the Bharat Award, recognizing her dedication to impactful storytelling. Additionally, she has been a recipient of esteemed awards such as the Asian Literary Society’s Sagar Memorial Award, Wordsmith Award, and Gitesh-Biva Memorial Award in 2021 and 2022.