Asking Too Much of Fiction?

I love fiction. Give me Atticus Finch and Boo Radley over Donald Trump's or Martha Stewart's bio any day. Someone once said that fiction is often more real than real life. Hear, hear. Fiction, for me, is the richest insight into humanity.

My latest read: Maps for Lost Lovers. It's the story of Pakistani women, families, children and lovers struggling with the clash between Pakistani and English cultures. The book has some very good, complex characters, and a wonderful story line. But there is a lot of lecturing: about the practice of murdering women gone 'astray' to reinstate the family's honour, about the difficulty for women to prove rape under Shari'a law. Whole paragraphs to support the dialogue, to make sure the reader understands just how difficult the situation really is.

Fiction can raise awareness about history, customs, cultures - but it doesn't need to be hammered in. It should, in my opinion, be weaved in subtly: into dialogue, setting descriptions. It can be done very well - a movie example, but Fire shows the juxtaposition of the castigation of girl widows in India against the rise of Gandhi's resistance movement without ever joining the dots for you.

It is not that I dislike the author's message; violence against women makes my blood boil. But I don't like being preached at. I like an author to assume I am smart enough to figure out the background, to make the connection between micro and macro.

Am I asking too much?