This novel told in vignettes and poetic fragments follows a woman who discovers that choice does not always equate to agency
G
oodbye, My Love begins with a departure. Amina is leaving her childish, controlling husband, believing this will be the start of a new life; a new self. But of course, these things are seldom so simple.
Within the first few pages of Yumna Kassab’s sixth book, it becomes clear that much of Amina’s life has been led by the expectations of the people around her. The name we know her by is not really hers; Amina is actually an echo of her husband’s name, Amin, who once “declared they should change their names so they matched … so she agreed, ever so agreeable”. Even after their divorce, we continue to know her by his moniker.
Much is withheld in Goodbye, My Love: we don’t know where Amina lives, where her enormous wealth comes from, or the details of her family background. The circumstances that led her to choose Amin in the first place are hinted at but never fully unpacked. We never learn her real name. She has, almost entirely, become Amina, the matching half to the man she tries to leave behind.
