The Keepers of the House

Shirley Ann Grau

Shirley Ann Grau’s The Keepers of the House is a stunning masterpiece of epic proportions. Winner of the 1965 Pulitzer Prize, the novel is a scathing indictment of racism and its damaging impact. It chronicles several generations of the Howland family in a rural Alabama community. The narrative begins in the early 1800s with the first Howland. His descendants gradually acquire more and more land in the county, becoming the biggest landowners. The narrative culminates with Abigail Howland in the 1960s. Grau weaves an intricate fabric with care and precision, gradually connecting disparate threads of time, place, and people until she draws us into its stunning conclusion.

The story is told in the voice of Abigail Howland, the granddaughter of the last William Howland. Abigail provides the backstory of her ancestors, going back a few generations; leads into her wealthy grandfather with whom she spent her formative years after her mother’s illness and death; and then takes us to her own marriage, the birth of her children, and her return to the Howland estate.

The narrative takes an unexpected turn when the widowed William Howland invites a young Negro name Margaret to be his housekeeper. He fathers five children with her, only three of whom survive. This was a time when interracial marriage was still considered a crime in the South. As long as Howland didn’t formalize his relationship with his mistress, the community looked the other way. But under the veneer of a supportive extended family and a close-knit community where everyone knows everyone else and where weddings and funerals are community-wide affairs, there lurks the insidious head of racism. Shortly after his death when Howland’s actual marriage to Margaret is exposed, all hell breaks loose, and Abigail is forced to defend her home against her white neighbors who try to set it on fire.

Grau has woven an intricate story with memorable characters in an authentic setting. Through her use of vivid sensory details, she immerses us in the small Alabama community with its swamps and woodlands; its snakes and alligators; its seasonal fluctuations; its farming and livestock; its sights, sounds, and smells; its racial prejudice; and its politics. She introduces us to a host of characters, depicting them as unique individuals with their idiosyncrasies and mannerisms.

Particularly impressive is Grau’s ability to capture the dialect, subtleties, and nuances in speech of each of her characters, especially William Howland and Margaret. Although Howland is a man of few words, he emerges as an authentic, fully-fleshed out individual who casts his expansive shadow over the community even after his death. And through her sparse but astute dialogue, Margaret emerges as a strong, fiercely determined, intelligent, and resilient woman. The characters come alive on the page. Some have imbibed the bigotry of the times and the place; others try to navigate their bi-racial relationships and bi-racial identities the best way they know how in an environment that is hostile to both.

This is a complex novel with complex characters. Grau eloquently evokes the landscape, atmosphere, and inhabitants of a rural Southern town. She builds her story with skill, adding layer upon layer as she moves us forward in time. Through her characters, she illustrates how racism and bigotry influence the difficult choices we make in our lives and the choices we make for our children. She illustrates how a community that has known you all your life can turn against you because of its intolerance. And through the character of Abigail, she illustrates how a young girl, sheltered from the harsh realities of life, grows into an empowered female, fiercely determined to confront racial prejudice and to defend her family’s legacy. By the end of the novel, Abigail Howland has earned her title as the keeper of the house.

A powerful story told with eloquence, passion, and heart. Highly recommended.

The Odyssey by Homer

Trans. Emily Wilson

The Odyssey by Homer. Trans. Emily Wilson is the first published translation by a woman of Homer’s Odyssey. As with any translation, the translator has an infinite number of choices to make in terms of diction, emphasis, ambiguities in the language, meter, etc. Wilson’s choices make for a unified and consistent approach, drawing attention to subtleties and nuances in the work that had previously been overlooked. Her translation invites a new reading of The Odyssey.

Wilson makes some interesting choices. Her unabashedly gendered perspective exposes some of the gender bias in previous translations. Her translation has the advantage of fleshing out the female characters, treating them with sympathy. In the case of the slave girls who are executed at the end of the poem, Wilson’s language suggests they should not have been held culpable for cooperating with the suitors since they were slaves and had no choice. Throughout her translation, Wilson stresses the interplay of gender relations; the silencing of mortal female voices; and the deep-seated male fears about female power.

Using sparse, clear diction presented in the familiar rhythm of iambic pentamer, Wilson’s translation is probably the most accessible and readable of all its predecessors. It has a very down-to-earth, plainly spoken feel to it, stripping it of the grand epic voice we have come to associate with an epic poem. But her occasional use of colloquialism has a jarring effect. One hardly expects to hear Telemachus addressing Eurycleia as “Nanny” or Penelope addressing her as “sweetheart,” or Telemachus addressing Eumaeus as “Grandpa,” or the use of “canapés” for what Fitzgerald translates as “savories.”

Wilson’s thoughtful and scholarly translation of The Odyssey yields new and interesting ways of interpreting the poem. She has made a significant contribution to our understanding of The Odyssey by translating it through a different set of lenses. And just as Caroline Alexander shattered a glass ceiling by being the first female to publish a translation of the Iliad, Emily Wilson has done the same with her translation of The Odyssey. That alone makes it a worthwhile read.

Highly recommended.

The Bookshop

Penelope Fitzgerald

The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald is a curious little book. It tells the story of Florence Green, an elderly, kind-hearted widow who decides to open a bookshop in her small coastal town of Hardborough, England, in 1959. She purchases the ‘Old House,’ a dilapidated structure that had remained vacant for several years. Although she meets with opposition, most notably from Mrs. Gamart, a prominent member of the community, Florence remains undaunted and eventually succeeds in opening the bookshop in the Old House, taking up residence on the second floor. She is fully aware—as is everyone in the community—that she shares her residence with a poltergeist (“a rapper”) who intermittently makes its presence felt with loud bangs and other noisy interruptions.

Florence’s efforts as a bookshop owner yield initial success. She starts a lending library and hires the ten-year old Christine Gipping as her assistant. But Florence’s success proves to be her downfall. Complaints are launched about the crowds lining outside her bookshop to purchase a copy of Lolita. Florence is eventually undone by Mrs. Gamart’s nephew who succeeds in passing an act of Parliament that permits the government to order a compulsory purchase of the Old House. The law is used as a weapon by those in power to get their way. The bank abandons Florence; her neighbors don’t rally to her support. The novel concludes with Florence admitting defeat as she exits town.

The novel was disappointing. The title was misleading since this is not a novel about a bookshop but about small-minded, selfish people, not one of whom is a particularly engaging or well-developed character. Florence is kindly and gentle and a formidable fighter when backed into a corner. But it is never made clear why she decides to open a bookshop, especially since she doesn’t display an inordinate passion for books. She just decides to do it, does it, succeeds temporarily, and then is forced to shut down. She is convinced a bookshop is a good idea that will benefit the community. But she underestimates the lengths people will go to resist change.

The subplot with the resident poltergeist is baffling since it is never developed. One wonders why it was included in the first place. Florence is nonplussed by the rapper, taking its presence in stride. And for its part, the rapper does nothing more than clutter about upstairs or make the occasional loud noise. Nothing comes of it, and it all seems a rather superfluous addition.

At 123 pages, the novel is a quick and easy read, but it isn’t one I would necessarily recommend.

The Marsh Arabs

Wilfred Thesiger

 In The Marsh Arabs, Wilfred Thesiger describes his intermittent eight-year stay with the Marsh Arabs of Southern Iraq during the 1950s. The marshlands consist of a 6,000 square area of wetlands where the Tigris and Euphrates close in on each other and eventually meet before flowing into the Shatt Al-Arab waterway, pass the city of Basra, and merge into the Arabian Gulf. Regarded by many historians as the location of the Biblical Garden of Eden and Great Flood, the area is known as the cradle of civilization. The Sumerians established a thriving civilization in the area, establishing an elaborate irrigation system that allowed the culture to flourish. Their descendants are the modern-day marsh dwellers.

Seeking to lose himself in a place untrammeled by the trappings of modern civilization, a place where people live as they have lived for many thousand years, Thesiger found what he was looking for in the marshlands. He lived among the Marsh Arabs for the better part of eight years, traveled from one village to the next in his tarada (canoe) with his skilled canoe boys; stayed at the village mudhif (guest house); enjoyed legendary Arab hospitality; ate meals and drank endless cups of coffee and tea with his hosts; hunted alongside them for game, pigs, boars, and other wildlife; witnessed the hardships of drought and flooding on their crops; participated in a mourning ceremony; and observed them building their incredible structures made of tightly bound reeds. In short, Thesiger experienced life with the Marsh Arabs as it had been lived for centuries. During that time, he made many friends and provided rudimentary medical assistance to the indigenous population who lined up to meet him with their ailing relatives when they learned his tarada was coming to their village.

Thesiger provides a fascinating glimpse into the life of the Marsh Arabs. In addition to the detailed descriptions, he includes several pages of invaluable black and white photographs which help the reader visualize the people, structures, activities, and environment. His immersion in the culture is all the more impressive because he does not exhibit the prejudices of a technologically advanced culture against a people living under very primitive conditions. Nor does he idealize the Marsh Arabs as “noble savages.” He provides a balanced perspective, admiring many of their qualities while recognizing their failings.

The Marsh Arabs live under a brand of justice that can be harsh and frequently cause bloody family feuds since the aggrieved party has the right to demand blood money or kill the killer. Justice is usually dispensed by the tribal leader who settles disputes and metes out compensation and a punishment that is frequently violent and lacks compassion. But these are also a caring people, coming to the aid of one another in times of difficulty; caring for their disabled; and affording great respect to the mustarjil—a man born in the body of a woman. The mustarjil is accepted on equal terms as any male and is treated accordingly with no hint of stigmatization or marginalization.

With the 1958 revolution and the overthrow of the monarchy, Iraq descended into a period of chaos and lawlessness. The rise to power of Saddam Hussein presaged a reign of terror. Saddam drained much of the marshland, destroying a culture and an ecosystem that had remained virtually unchanged for many thousand years. Attempts are currently being made to restore the marshlands, but the way of life that thrived in this environment is probably lost forever.

Thesiger concludes his book with the words, “. . . another chapter in my life had closed.” But what has been closed is more than a chapter in the life of one man. What has been lost is the remnants of an ancient civilization—a devastating loss from which we can never fully recover.

The Essex Serpent

Sarah Perry

With pages housed in a stunning cover by Peter Dyer, Sarah Perry’s The Essex Serpent generates a compelling sense of place peppered with elements of the gothic. Set in Victorian England in the 1890s, the novel’s atmosphere is replete with mysterious happenings and disappearances; villagers under the chokehold of superstition, paranoia, and hysteria; shapes that emerge in the dark and disappear behind a curtain of fog; and ostensible sightings of a mythical creature who presumably haunts the waters.

We follow the recently widowed Cora Seaborne as she moves from London to the Essex village of Aldwinter in search of the mythical Essex Serpent. In tow is her autistic son, Francis, and her companion, Martha. Cora is a free-spirited nature enthusiast who delights in traipsing around in her manly overcoat and muddy shoes, searching for fossils and hoping for a sighting of the elusive Essex Serpent. Her meeting with William Ransome, the local vicar, triggers lively debates about science versus religion, faith versus superstition, the natural world versus the spiritual realm—debates which defined the Victorian era. Their bantering back and forth is fraught with sexual tension.

The novel is peopled with interesting, fleshed-out characters with unique personalities. Martha, a feminist and vehement socialist, advocates for better housing for London’s poor. Dr. Luke Garrett is a brilliant surgeon with a hunchback and progressive ideas on medical procedures. His wealthy friend, George Spencer, becomes politically active on behalf of London’s poor in the hope of winning Martha’s favor. Stella, the saintly wife of William Ransome, is dying of consumption. Her illness takes a strange turn when she becomes obsessed with the color blue. And Katherine and Charles Ambrose, friends of Cora and the Ransomes, are a wealthy couple with government connections.

And then there are the children, portrayed with sympathy and compassion as they struggle to make sense of the world around them. Francis, Cora’s autistic son, collects and itemizes odds and ends, seldom communicates, and baffles adults, including his mother, with his behavior. The three Ransome children are Joanna, James, and John, each of whom has a unique personality. Joanna’s friend, Naomi, is a sensitive child who succumbs to a hysterical fit of uncontrollable laughter in the classroom. Her mysterious disappearance haunts her father with visions of his daughter being gobbled up by the Essex Serpent.

The love interests are many. William and Cora fall in love but remain as friends since William also loves his wife. Spencer loves Martha who is in love with Cora. Luke Garrett is also in love with Cora. Cora loves her son but is unable to connect with him. These love interests thread their way throughout the novel. Although they remain unfulfilled, they explore the different guises love can take, its power, its limitations, and its intersection with friendship.

Perry’s strength lies in creating a strong sense of place. Whether we are in the desperately poor districts of Victorian London with its filth and stench and overcrowded housing or whether we are in Aldwinter, with its bogs and marshes and muddy Blackwater River concealing goodness only knows what mysterious creature, Perry’s lyrical and descriptive prose is as immersive as the Aldwinter fog. Her ability to capture the sights, sounds, and smells of a particular location is impressive. Some of her descriptive passages are stunning. She breathes life into the landscape through personification:

Essex has her bride’s gown on: there’s cow parsley frothing by the road and daisies on the common, and the hawthorn’s dressed in white; wheat and barley fatten in the fields, and bindweed decks the hedges.

Perry sprinkles the narrative with letters, diary entries, and the occasional bird’s eye view where we catch short glimpses of the characters in their different locations as if we were peering down on them from above. To say Sarah Perry is a gifted writer is an understatement. Her prose is exquisite; her narrative mesmerizing; her imagination captivating.

Highly recommended.

Silas Marner

George Eliot

Silas Marner by George Eliot is a charming novel of a simpler time in a rural English village. 

Marner, a skillful weaver, is wrongly accused of theft and feels compelled to leave his village. He moves to a neighboring village where he develops a reputation as a miser. Bereft of companionship and embittered by his lot in life, his only pleasure consists of stacking up his gold coins and watching them grow. But when he gets robbed of his coins and sinks to his lowest point, a young child enters his life. Marner adopts the little girl, showering her with love and affection.

The two form an inseparable bond based on mutual love and appreciation. The girl, Effie, recognizes the role Marner played in saving her from an orphanage and workhouse; Marner recognizes the role she played in saving him from living the rest of his days as a miserly recluse. He emerges as a sympathetic character who has been redeemed by giving and receiving love. There are twists and turns in the novel, most notably those involving the girl’s real father and his connection with the thief who robbed Marner.

Eliot skillfully captures the nature of rural life in England. Her use of vernacular to portray character is very effective. The characters come alive with their quibbling and bantering back and forth. The rural population with its simplicity, honesty, and genuine goodness is contrasted with the upper classes, some of whom are not above lying, deception, and thievery. Even though her characters are flawed, Eliot paints them with a tender brush.

Eliot clearly delineates class divisions, but she does it with compassion, humor, and irony. Her intrusions into the narrative where she comments on characters or events are done with an astute lens into the foibles of human nature. Her exploration of what motivates humans to behave the way they do is rich with insight. The novel illustrates the importance of belonging to a community from which one can garner support, friendship, and guidance. It also illustrates the truism that happiness does not come from wealth but from the bonds we form with one another.

A simple novel, told with honesty, grace, and eloquence. Recommended.

Moving the Palace

Charif Majdalani; Trans. Edward Gauvin

Imagine yourself transplanted to Lebanon in the early 1900s. You are a Westernized Lebanese, fluent in Arabic, English, and boast a smidgen of French. You decide to leave Lebanon and head to the Sudan where you become a translator for the British colonial administration. Your employment entails traipsing across deserts with British army officers; witnessing battles and tribal feuds; quelling rebellions; encountering a motley crew of Bedouins, tribal chieftains, and sheikhs with their respective entourages; negotiating agreements; sleeping under the stars; and interacting with Western military officials whose presence against the desert backdrop smacks of an absurdist drama. Along the way, you encounter a man who has dismantled a lavish palace in Tripoli and is transporting it piece by piece in a camel caravan. You eventually become the proud owner of this piecemeal palace and, after a series of detours and hiccups, you return to Lebanon with the bits and pieces of your palace in tow.

This is the highly imaginative setting for Charif Majdalani’s Moving the Palace. The narrator is the grandson of Samuel Ayad, our intrepid traveler who ostensibly relayed details of his adventures to his daughter who then relayed it to her son. The novel is a blend of historical fact and fiction, the narrator freely acknowledging he had to fill in gaps in the storyline and embellish details as necessary.

The novel is an absolute delight. The reader is transported to exotic locations and is introduced to a quirky set of characters at a pivotal moment in world history. As fascinating as that is, what really sustains reader interest is the narrator’s voice. This imaginative tale comes through the voice of Majdalani’s narrator who delights and amuses us with his dry, sardonic humor, with his exposure of the foibles and absurdities of human behavior, and with the manner in which he presents outlandish events in a matter-of-fact tone.

Majdalani’s strength and the strength of Edward Gauvin, the translator, lies in crafting flowing sentences that strongly evoke the topography and atmosphere of the Arab desert and its people. The story is told in lyrical, rhythmic sentences that mesmerize and sparkle with humor.

Very highly recommended.

Frankenstein in Baghadad

Ahmed Saadawi; Trans. Jonathan Wright

Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi, translated by Jonathan Wright, depicts the horrors perpetrated on the residents of Baghdad during the U.S. occupation. Based on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, it deviates from the original to reflect the situation in Baghdad.

Hadi, an Iraqi junk dealer, selects the discarded body parts of victims of suicide bombers. He stitches the body parts together until he has formed a complete human being. His goal is to shame the Iraqi authorities into giving a proper burial to the bits and pieces of the human body blown apart by suicide bombers instead of just tossing them into the trash. His plan takes an unexpected twist when the lifeless body comes alive with the infusion of a soul from another victim.

The Baghdadi Frankenstein, known as Whatsitsname, takes justice into his own hands by killing those responsible for murder and/or for causing irreparable injury to others. His “avenging angel” killing spree takes an unexpected twist when he justifies killing innocent people because he needs fresh body parts to replace his disintegrating body.

Several threads run throughout the story populated by a wide range of characters whose lives intersect with each other. Together, these threads paint a picture of horrendous violence, corruption, lies, theft, injustice, paralyzing fear, abusive government officials, power struggles, physical and mental dislocation, subterfuge, superstition, and collective guilt. No one is really innocent; no one can be trusted. The same individual is at times a victim and at other times a criminal. Amid this chaos and uncertainty, Saadawi explores the role of religion—its power to heal and its potential for harm when it is manipulated to promote a ruthless political agenda.

The novel is translated from Arabic. The language was prosaic, which may be due to the nature of the translation. Elements and events were introduced as if they were of great significance only to be summarily dropped from the narrative, leaving the reader struggling to understand why they were mentioned in the first place. The disparate threads and several characters intermittently weaving in and out make it a challenging read.

Saadawi portrays the horror of life in a war zone and the destabilizing impact on residents living under a constant barrage of car bombs, internecine warfare, foreign occupation, disappearances, and senseless killings. Just as Hadi stitches various body parts to compose a complete human being, the residents of Baghdad struggle to stitch the bits and pieces of their desperate lives to sustain some semblance of normalcy when all around is fragmented and punctuated by acts of unspeakable violence. War dehumanizes all who are caught up in it—whether they are active participants or bystanders just struggling to survive.

A complex and sobering novel. Recommended if only because it explores the consequences of war on the personal and collective psyche of the people caught in its cross hairs.

The Member of the Wedding

Carson McCullers

On the surface, the plot of The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers seems fairly simple. It takes place over a period of three days in 1944 Georgia. Frankie, a gangly twelve-year old girl, is excited about her brother’s upcoming wedding and has convinced herself she will join her brother and his new bride on their honeymoon. We follow Frankie’s footsteps before, during, and after the wedding. The beauty of this novel does not lie in its plot. It lies in McCullers considerable skill in capturing the mind of a twelve-year-old suffering from pre-teen anxieties.

Frankie’s mother died giving birth to her. Her lonely, widowed father neglects and marginalizes her. The only adult guidance, comfort, and companionship she receives comes from Berenice, the African American maid. Like many young people teetering on the brink of adulthood, Frankie struggles with her identity and with feelings of alienation; loneliness; self-doubt; low self-esteem and, at times, self-hate. She yearns for acceptance and love. Left to her own devices, she roams the streets of the small southern town, unsupervised. Her occasional companion is her six-year old cousin, John Henry West.

One strength of this novel lies in McCullers skill in slowly and expertly drawing us into the mind of this angst-ridden, confused, sensitive, imaginative, and intelligent young girl as she desperately tries to find her place in the world. We sympathize with her as she struggles to articulate her thoughts and express feelings of being adrift and disconnected from those around her. We want to wrap our arms around her when her pleas for attention are misunderstood or ignored. We are anxious for her safety as she wonders into a bar and agrees to rendezvous with a sailor later that night, oblivious to any potential danger such a “date” might pose.

Another great strength of this novel is McCullers ability to capture the dialog of Frankie, Berenice, and John Henry as they sit around the kitchen table. Much of the novel focuses on their kitchen conversations. The dialog is uniquely suited to each character—Frankie’s unbridled flights of fancy and struggles to make herself understood; John Henry’s childish interruptions; and Berenice’s insights on racism and marriage as she tries to shepherd the young girl into womanhood while humoring her outlandish ideas. The diction, nuances of speech, dialect, and subtleties of expression, as well as what is said and what is left unsaid, powerfully depict each character as a unique and believable individual. Their interaction is realistic, creating a sense of cocoon-like intimacy. And although not articulated by any of the characters, their strong bond based on feelings of mutual love and community is evident.

McCullers has created a gem of a novel with beautiful language and flawless characterization. Her sensitive depiction of the confused emotions of a young girl as she experiences tumultuous transitions in her life is nothing short of impeccable.

Highly recommended.

Circe

Madeline Miller

Madeline Miller’s long-awaited novel, Circe, reimagines the life of the goddess Circe beginning with her childhood, to her encounter with Odysseus, and beyond.

As a child, Circe is ridiculed, bullied and teased mercilessly by her siblings for her appearance and voice, and marginalized by her parents, Helios and Perse. When the gods discover she is a witch with considerable powers of transformation, she is banished to live a solitary life in Aiaia. While on Aiaia, she hones her skills in witchcraft, transforms men into pigs, gives birth to the son of Odysseus, and feuds with Athena. When her son accidentally kills Odysseus, he returns to Aiaia with Penelope and Telemachus. The novel ends with Circe transforming herself into a mortal to live out the rest of her days with Telemachus.

There is much to admire in the novel. Since Circe lives in isolation, visitors who come to her island share the latest events and gossip, thereby providing Miller with an opportunity to weave stories from Greek mythology into the narrative. The description of Circe’s island with its plush vegetation and bewitched wild animals was vivid and colorful.

But the novel has its weaknesses. Parts of it dragged, especially the parts where Circe putters about on her island. The biggest drawback, however, lay in the portrayal of Circe. In Book X of the Odyssey, Circe is empowered, confident, at peace with herself, and “virginal” in the sense that she does not feel the need for a man to complete her. She helps restore Odysseus’ strength when he lives on her island for a year, and then she sends him off on his merry way when he tells her he has to leave. She doesn’t cling to him as Calypso tries to do. She doesn’t fall apart. She is complete in and of herself.

Miller’s Circe is, unfortunately, nothing like that. Unlike her sister, Pasiphaë, who is portrayed as strong, willful, and exciting, Circe is weak, insipid, and gullible as a child. She develops a clingy obsession with Glaucos, the fisherman; exhibits low self-esteem; allows her sister to bully her even when they are both adults; is abused, abandoned, and raped. She does gain strength during her stay in Aiaia and is fiercely protective of her son. But underneath the veneer of strength and witchcraft, she is still the same little Circe who desperately wants to love and be loved by a man. It is as if there is a void in her life that only a man can complete—whether it be Daedalus, Odysseus, her son, or Telemachus. She is uncomfortable with being an immortal and ultimately transforms herself into a mortal to live out her days with Telemachus.

It is disappointing to see the powerful Circe of the Odyssey reduced in stature, experiencing self-doubt, and lacking in self-confidence. Her growth stems from her relationships with men—whether as their lover or as a mother, and her actions stem from her desire to protect the man she loves. Uncomfortable with being an immortal and wielding the power that it affords her, she ultimately transforms herself into a mortal to live out her days with the man she now loves.

It would be refreshing to see a female role model who is strong, empowered, and one unto herself, and who has no need to relinquish strength or agency in order to love and be loved in return.

I was hoping for a wild and untamable Circe. Instead, I got the Little Mermaid.

Pearls on a Branch: Oral Tales

Najla Jraissaty Khoury; Trans. Inea Bushnaq

Pearls on a Branch: Oral Tales by Najla Jraissaty Khoury and translated by Inea Bushnaq is a collection of 30 Arab folktales transmitted orally through the generations by Arab women. Khoury traveled in Lebanon during the civil war, collecting stories told by women in women-only gatherings.

The folktales share many of the characteristics of Western fairy tales with some cultural variations. Pomegranate-Seed-on-a-Platter and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves resembles Snow White and the Seven Dwarves; Thuraya with the Long, Long Hair resembles Rapunzel. Ghouls and ogres make a ubiquitous presence; as do wicked step-mothers; talking animals, trees, and flowers; humans who transform into four-legged creatures and/or vegetation; peacocks that impregnate girls; and turds that sing. In some cases, a series of tasks or quests have to be performed before a marriage can take place. Also present are mnemonic devices very common to oral transmission in which a phrase or verse is repeated as an aid to memory. The virtuous are rewarded, the wicked punished and invariably meet with a dire end when they “explode in anger and die on the spot.”

The central character is a virtuous female whose beauty surpasses all others, and whose wit, intelligence, strength, and wisdom outsmart her male counterparts. In this patriarchal culture, the girl usually disguises herself as a male in order to travel freely and outfox her enemies. Through her perseverance, tenacity, smarts, and unparalleled beauty, the heroine wins the love of the handsome prince or sultan. Not surprisingly, the tale ends with the celebration of a happily ever after marriage.

This is a delightful collection, at times bawdy, at times didactic, at times funny, and always entertaining. Since oral transmission of folktales is rapidly becoming a dying art, the real value of this collection lies in its preservation of traditional Arab folktales for the enjoyment of future generations.

Recommended.

The Buried Giant

Kazuo Ishiguro

The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro transports us to Britain shortly after the death of King Arthur. Although the war between the Saxons and the Britons is over, peace is tenuous. Against a backdrop of festering tensions, an elderly couple, Axl and Beatrice, decide to go on a quest to seek their lost son. As they slowly make their way toward their son’s village, they encounter ogres, crones, a warrior, a young boy with a mysterious bite mark, Sir Gawain of King Arthur’s court, pixies, monks who want to kill them, monks who want to save them, mythical creatures, and a boatman who intentionally separates couples by ferrying only one partner to an island while leaving the other partner stranded.

To complicate matters further, a mist is ever-present throughout the land, causing people to suffer from collective amnesia. Axl and Beatrice struggle to remember their past, recollecting bits and pieces as they trudge along. They detour along the way, either because they seek help from a wise elder or because they want to assist others in need of help. Eventually they get embroiled in the search for Querig, a mysterious dragon that ostensibly terrorizes the land.

Ishiguro has written a masterpiece in which fable, allegory, and magical realism intersect. The novel has received mixed reviews, some of which were critical of the style, content, and characterization. But if the characters seem detached, removed, and unengaged, it is because they are characters in a fable. If the language seems archaic, pedantic, and overly-polite, it is because it has to be distanced from every day speech. We are immersed in a land replete with mythical creatures and monsters, knights in armor, an elderly couple on a quest, and mysterious happenings all of which are shrouded in a mist of forgetfulness. But this isn’t a novel about pre-Saxon England. The setting, characters, and plot are vehicles to engage us with the theme of the novel—a meditation on memory. 

The recurring thread weaving its way throughout the novel is about memory, the buried giant of the title. What do we remember and what, if anything, is best forgotten? On a personal level, can love between two people endure when memories of grievances, abandonment, and infidelities intrude? And on a collective level, can there be peace between two former warring factions when memories of atrocities, brutalities, and genocide inflicted by both sides continue to haunt? At what price do we remember? Do we have to confront the good and the bad in order to heal? Is it better to suppress all memories, in essence to bury the giant, in order to forget injustices? Or is it better to remember injustices of the past and risk getting caught up in the thirst for revenge? The characters grapple with these questions and, by extension, invite us to do the same.

Ishiguro gradually builds meaning as the narrative unfolds. The language is mesmerizing; the world he creates blends history with mythology with fantasy. This is a fable that raises profound questions about the efficacy of personal and collective memories and their role in healing and reconciliation—questions as relevant today as they were in the past.

Highly recommended

The Moor's Account

Laila Lalami

The Moor’s Account by Laila Lalami is a fictional account loosely based on the 1527 expedition from Spain to Florida of conquistador Pánfilo de Narváez. The goal was to conquer land, claim it for Spain, subdue the indigenous population, and find gold. The story is told in the voice of one of the four survivors of the expedition, Mustafa/Estebanico, a Moroccan who sold himself into slavery to provide for his destitute mother and siblings.

The first part of the novel consists of chapters in the alternating time lines of Mustafa’s life before and after the expedition. Mustafa recounts his childhood, his early success as a merchant, the death of his father, the famine that compelled him to provide funds for his family by selling himself into slavery, and his early life as a slave in the home of a Spanish merchant. These chapters alternate with his journey to Florida and experiences in America as a slave to the explorer Andres Dorantes who joined the Narváez expedition. Of the 600 people on the expedition, Mustafa and three Castilians were the only survivors.

Mustafa, renamed Estebanico by the Castilians, describes the harrowing journey across the ocean and on land. The expedition experiences one disaster and disappointment after another. Men are lost to disease, betrayals, ambushes, drownings, and bloody skirmishes with various Indian tribes. The few who survive do so by accommodating to the demands of the tribes they encounter and by learning survival skills from their hosts. The four survivors spend several years moving from one location to the next while developing a reputation as healers. Eventually Estebanico orchestrates his escape and returns with his Indian wife to her village to live out the rest of his days in peace.

Lalami brings events alive through the voice of her narrator. She skillfully transports us to a different time and place. We witness harrowing tales of survival, brutality, torture, cannibalism, as well as tales of compassion and generosity. Mustafa/Estebanico is an engaging story-teller who demonstrates tact, resilience, intelligence, adaptability, and impressive survival skills. We follow him as he encounters strange surroundings, animals, and people. And we watch as he learns to adapt and embrace his new life. But Estebanico is not without his faults since he traded in slaves before becoming a slave. Lalami depicts her characters as multi-dimensional, unique individuals with idiosyncrasies and foibles keenly observed by her narrator. The three Castilian survivors are well-rounded and believable, each with a different personality, and each of whom experiences growth.

The novel tackles the themes of slavery, colonialism, othering, greed, freedom, sacrifice, and family. Perhaps the most prominent theme to emerge is the power of story-telling. Mustafa/Estebanico discovers the great power that resides in story-telling—who is telling the story, whose voices are being silenced as a consequence, and who has agency to reshape the story to suit his purposes. As his adventures in the New World unfold, Estebanico’s voice gradually gains in strength and with it comes a corresponding increase in agency. His stated purpose is to provide an honest recording of events to correct the erroneous report compiled by the three Castilian survivors. Mustafa/Estebanico’s voice, which had once been silenced during his tenure as a slave, will be silent no more.

A convincing and laudable reimagining of events. Highly recommended.

Reflections in a Golden Eye

Carson McCullers

Reflections in a Golden Eye by Carson McCullers takes place on an army base in the American South in the 1930s. It focuses on five characters, each of whom is dysfunctional in one way or another.

Although we are told at the outset of the novel that a murder will take place, we are not yet told who or why or how. Instead, we are introduced to the characters. There is the young Private Ellgee Williams who seems to suffer from a learning disability. Captain Penderton struggles with his sexuality, finding himself developing an obsession for Private Williams. Penderton’s wife, Leonora, is having an affair with their neighbor, Major Morris Langdon. Penderton has knowledge of his wife’s affairs, and although he feels nothing but loathing for his wife, we are told he finds himself attracted to her lovers. Alison, Langdon’s wife, also has knowledge of the affair. She suffers from a weak heart, is fragile both physically and mentally, and executes a fit of self-mutilation due to her frustration. Into this mix is Alison Langdon’s confidante and soul-mate, Anacleto, the gay Filipino house boy. The events gradually unfold, revealing the nature and extent of each character’s dysfunction.

After catching a glimpse of Leonora prancing about in the nude in her home, Private Williams develops an obsession for her and sneaks into her bedroom at night on several occasions to watch her sleep. Penderton’s obsession with Private Williams reaches such proportions that he begins to stalk him and wanders into areas where he knows he will encounter him. Leonora also has some sort of learning disability since we are told she finds simple addition of numbers and/or letter writing as overwhelming challenges. Major Langdon resents his wife’s bond with Anacleto and is convinced his wife is faking her illness. He displays a boorish insensitivity to his wife’s grief over the loss of their child. Alison Langdon is, perhaps, the most sympathetic of the characters in that she suffers her husband’s infidelity, is plagued with a weak heart, and is totally estranged from her husband. Her despair with life reaches a climax when she mutilates her body.

None of the characters are particularly endearing. McCullers’ skill lies in the gradual revelation of the full nature of each character’s dysfunction. The details pile up with restraint, dropping a hint here, a sentence there until the climactic conclusion. What emerges is a portrait of five very lonely, out of joint characters who muffle their pain with alcohol and sleeping pills. McCullers captures their hurts, sadness, loneliness, and festering resentments—all of which they bury under a veneer of respectability and social acceptance. She handles this with precision, detachment, and an acute eye for observing the frailties that make us human.

Recommended.

Elmet

Fiona Mozley

A finalist for the 2017 Man Booker Prize, Fiona Mozley’s Elmet is a haunting book that continues to linger long after the final word has been read. What makes this such an impressive novel is Mozley’s ability to generate and sustain an atmosphere of impending catastrophe.

The narrative is straightforward. A father and his two children, fourteen-year-old Daniel and fifteen-year-old Cathy, build a home on land that previously belonged to the children’s mother. They are self-sufficient and depend on each other to build their home and grow their own food. They limit their interactions with outsiders. The father is a burly giant who made a living as a prize-fighter. He is protective over his children, treats them with kindness, teaches them the survival skills of animal trapping and foraging, all the while instilling in them a respect for nature. The mother is absent, appearing intermittently in the children’s lives before finally disappearing for good. It is after her last disappearance and the death of their grandmother that the father decides to relocate and build the home for his children.

The lifestyle sounds idyllic in many ways. But from the beginning, Mozley establishes a foreboding atmosphere that intensifies as the novel progresses. The mother’s previous appearances, disappearances, and final exit are never fully explained. The father sometimes vanishes for several hours at a time without informing his children of his whereabouts or activities. Young Daniel seems to be struggling with his sexuality. He has the homemaker instinct, assuming the responsibility for cooking, cleaning, and decorating the home to create a welcoming environment. Cathy exudes a toughness and staunch determination. Plagued with the anxieties and frustrations of her physical maturity, she is fiercely protective of her brother and views outsiders with suspicion.

Into this environment intrudes a wealthy and powerful landlord who accuses the family of squatting on his land. He has the paper work to prove it, claiming he purchased the land from their mother when she needed money. The clash escalates into a class conflict with landowner versus tenants, business owner versus laborers. The situation rapidly deteriorates, going from bad to worse until the final climactic and bloody crescendo.

Although the novel has its strengths, it also has a few noteworthy weaknesses. The story is told from the first-person point of view of Daniel. But there is an incongruity between the internal thoughts and fluidity of his narrative voice with his outward speech. Daniel’s interiority is relatively sophisticated, profound, reflective, and mature—qualities not evident in his actual speech, which is child-like and naïve. The problem is compounded by Mozley’s attempts to capture the dialect and inflections of the north of England. We are thrust from the sensuous and vivid description of the surroundings into a speech in which doendt substitutes for doesn’t, wan’t owt substitutes for wasn’t anything, and so on. Rather than sounding authentic, these attempts at capturing the Yorkshire dialect seem contrived and jarring. The climax of the novel stretches plausibility, and too many loose ends, relationships, possible connections, and mysteries hinted at throughout the novel are never adequately resolved.

These lapses do not detract from Mozley’s talent and achievement in this her debut novel as there is much in it to admire. The writing is beautiful and has a rhythmic, lyrical quality. Mozley’s descriptive and vivid language captures the sights, sounds, and smells of the landscape in rural Yorkshire. Her main strength, however, lies in generating a strong sense of atmosphere, an atmosphere that permeates the novel, gradually intensifying to its inexorable conclusion.

A compelling page-turner in many ways. Highly recommended.

Omeros

Derek Walcott

Omeros (the Greek name for Homer) by Derek Walcott is a challenging, multi-layered epic poem in seven books. Although the poem does not retell Homer’s works, it does feature characters in the Iliad and Odyssey and is replete with references to Greek mythology. Several seemingly disparate narrative threads intersect in the poem. Weaving in and out of these different threads is the author’s reflections on his life and his commentary on the damaging effects of colonialism on the indigenous populations of the Caribbean, Africa, and North America.

The primary thread is set in the Caribbean island of St. Lucia and involves fishermen and other sundry characters populating the island—Achille, Hector, Helen, Philoctete, Seven Seas (a blind poet), Ma Kilman (the healer), and Major Plunkett and his wife Maud, among others. The characters sometimes merge with their Homeric counterparts. Within its seemingly haphazard framework, the poet leaps backward and forward in time, changes locations from the island to cities in Europe and North America, frequently interjects himself as a traveler in and out of time and place, and converses with Homer in the final section of the book. All these shifts occur without alerting the reader, so one frequently has to reread passages to determine the location, the timeframe, and the characters involved in any segment.

The poem is complex. It can be confusing at times to follow a narrative thread with its unannounced shifts that pull in any given direction. However, the narrative is not what necessarily draws in the reader. Instead, what draws the reader in and what makes this a spellbinding work of literature is the sheer beauty of the poetry in lines that have to be savored as they twirl around the tongue, lines that reflect the immense talent of the mind that produced them.

In Omeros, Derek Walcott, the 1992 recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature, gave us a poem with characters drawn with sympathy and compassion. He showed us their struggles, their triumphs, and their defeats. He transported us to their island, an island rich with color and vegetation and with the sights and sounds of the ocean as a constant presence. And he does this while illustrating the debilitating impact of colonialism on the traditions and culture of the indigenous population. Above all, Walcott gave us rhythmic lines of poetry in language that is musical, vibrant, resonant, stunningly beautiful, and replete with images and metaphors shimmering with color.

A challenging poem to read but well worth the effort. Highly recommended.

My Soul is a Woman: The Feminine in Islam

Annemarie Schimmel

My Soul is a Woman: The Feminine in Islam by Annemarie Schimmel explores the role of women and the feminine in the mystical tradition of Islam (Sufism).

Schimmel was an internationally renowned scholar who wrote extensively on Islam and mysticism. Fluent in several languages, including German, English, Urdu, Persian, Arabic, and Turkish, she was a professor of theology at Ankara University for several years before moving to Harvard where she inaugurated the Indo-Muslim Studies program. She was a prolific writer, publishing numerous books and articles on Islamic literature and mysticism.

In My Soul is a Woman, Schimmel dedicates a chapter on the role women played in each of the following topics: women and the Prophet of Islam; in Sufism; in the Qur’an and Islamic traditions; and in the education of the soul since “soul” (nafs) is a feminine word in Arabic. She also explores the respect paid to elderly women and mothers in the Islamic tradition.

Schimmel provides copious examples of the significant contributions made by a number of female mystics to Islamic mysticism. She carefully distinguishes between the role and expectations placed on women in the Quran and the rigid restrictions and prohibitions placed on them in society, attributing the latter to misogynistic cultural influences which became increasingly intransigent throughout time and which deviate in significant ways from the Qur’an.  

One of the most fascinating aspects of the book is Schimmel’s exploration of a variety of Persian, Arabic, Turkish, and Indo-Muslim Sufi love poems. Schimmel reads these poems as metaphors for the beloved’s yearning for union with God. The beloved can be male or female. He/she goes on a quest to seek the beloved with an unwavering dedication that serves as a role model for other seekers. This interpretive lens opens the poems up to new readings in which every action, every step, can be read as a metaphor along the mystical path to God.

The book is recommended for those seeking an understanding of the role of women and the feminine in the mystical tradition of Islam.

No Time To Spare: Thinking About What Matters

Ursula K. Le Guin

No Time to Spare: Thinking About What Matters by Ursula K. Le Guin is a collection of blogs Le Guin wrote between the years of 2010-2016. The collection is selected and introduced by Karen Jay Fowler.

Le Guin’s topics are wide-ranging and include the following: her lack of spare time; the benefits and challenges of aging; the nature of writing; letters from children; Homer; literary awards and the great American novel; feminism; thoughts on Utopia and dystopia; capitalism; anger; her discomfort with public appearances; and the ideal way of eating a soft-boiled egg. Le Guin also ventures into the animal world by delighting us with the antics of her cat, Pard; her eyeball encounter with a rattle snake; and her meditations on a lynx.

Le Guin expresses her opinions with unabashed candor, articulates her concerns with the direction the world around her has taken, and communicates the wonders she finds in seemingly mundane conversations and encounters. Her language is informal, conversational, and laced with the occasional acerbic witticism. Even though the tone conjures up an atmosphere of sitting around the kitchen table and chatting, Le Guin’s words are not to be dismissed lightly. This is not a simple jaunt into the mind of an octogenarian. Her voice is authentic; her words full of wisdom and insights that give you pause and make you think. She segues seamlessly from one topic to another, from the seemingly trivial to the very profound. Her encounter with a rattlesnake, for example, is transformed into a meditation on the sacred.

The collection is full of gems taking unexpected turns and laced with a wry sense of humor. Le Guin’s mind is active, sensitive, compassionate, graceful, and unflinchingly honest. She compels us to confront hard truths. She will be sorely missed.

Highly recommended.

The Green Bicycle

Haifaa Al Mansour

The Green Bicycle by Haifaa Al Mansour is the story of Wadjda, a precocious and enterprising eleven-year-old girl in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Wadjda is a tom boy who refuses to conform to her culture’s expectations of what is considered appropriate behavior and mannerisms for girls. Her best friend and playmate is a young boy called Abdullah. When Wadjda sees a green bicycle in a toy store, she decides to earn the money to buy it so she can race with Abdullah. It is considered highly improper for girls to ride bicycles in Saudi Arabia, but Wadjda will not allow that obstacle to deter her.

Based on Al Mansour’s award-winning film, the novel explores gender roles and the restrictions placed on women in Saudi Arabia. It provides a glimpse of the education system for girls, dress requirements for females, and the limitations imposed on a woman’s movement and speech. Wadjda challenges these restrictions with every aspect of her being. Eventually, her mother gets on board and launches her own rebellion.

Al Mansour captures the struggles of life in Saudi Arabia and the social expectations and traditions that place a burden on both men and women—with women shouldering the heavier burden. Wadjda’s father takes on a second wife since only sons are recognized in the family tree and Wadjda’s mother can no longer bear children. Al Mansour is careful to distinguish between the cultural prohibitions placed on women and the precepts of Islam, attributing prohibitions to tradition and dismissing many as superstitious in nature. For example, Wadjda is repeatedly warned that riding a bicycle will inhibit her ability to bear children—an admonition she dismisses as mere superstition.

Wadjda’s relationship with her mother is heartwarming and handled with sensitivity. Their bond is unbreakable, infused with love and understanding. One of the most touching scenes is of Wadjda’s mother teaching Wadjda to recite verses from the Qur’an. Wadjda is moved by her mother’s sonorous voice as she delivers the words with passion:

Gently, she clasped Wadjda’s hands in hers and placed their joined palms, fingers interlaced, over her own heart. Words spilled from her mouth, full of a sincerity and passion Wadjda had never seen before. A passion her mother had, up until that point, kept locked inside.

The connection between mother and daughter is unwavering. As the mother says to Wadjda when her husband takes on a second wife, “It’s all right,” she said softly. “He made his decision. It’ll be just the two of us now. We’ll be fine.”

And you know they will.

Recommended for children ages eleven and up—and for those young at heart.

Never Let Me Go

Kazuo Ishiguro

Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go is an unsettling novel that grabs the reader with a relentless grip from its first page to its last. Told from the first-person point of view of a naïve and unreliable narrator, the novel unfolds in a series of flashbacks and flash forwards. The narrator, Kathy H, an adult in her early thirties when the novel opens, remembers her childhood and schooling at Hailsham, followed by her years in “the cottage,” and then as a caregiver to donors. 

Initially, Hailsham sounds like an idyllic school in the English countryside, isolated from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the world. Kathy is surrounded by friends and guardians who oversee the children’s education, artistic endeavors, and sports activities. But slowly seeping into this atmosphere are hints of something ominous: references to the children as “special,” furtive glances, partial revelations, and bits of overheard conversations. Kathy narrates these activities and snatches of conversation but seems completely oblivious to their import at the time. This makes it even more haunting since the reader is able to piece the puzzle together long before everything becomes apparent to the narrator. The tension builds up slowly with layer upon layer of hints and clues shared with the reader through the eyes of a child who doesn’t fully comprehend their significance.

Winner of the 2017 Nobel Prize in Literature, Kazuo Ishiguro has created an amazing tour de force. Through his use of first-person narrative, the reader experiences events through the eyes an innocent child who grows into adulthood. We feel sympathy for her and her friends as they try to make sense of an incomprehensible situation. We watch them as they clutch at straws and fabricate meanings to understand their circumstances. And we recoil in horror as we learn the purpose of their existence and the full extent of the cruel and inhumane experiment they have endured under the ostensible guise of scientific medical research.

This is not an easy read. Brilliant in its execution, the story is chilling, disturbing, and will continue to haunt long after the final sentence has been read.